HORACE TAKES A STAND 111 



ness the care and anxiety with which Horace selected 

 and slowly consumed his allowance of food. Two 

 spoonfuls of beans, three of rice, one potato, two 

 slices of bread ; everything was itemised and meas- 

 ured. And each mouthful was swallowed not lightly 

 or absent-mindedly, as by one plethoric and careless 

 of his abundant riches, but in the silence of a bitter 

 concentration which grasped desperately at the 

 transient and elusive joy. Always he left the cook 

 tent immediately after a meal, to escape the agony 

 of watching others eat. 



This discipline, hard as it was on the patient's 

 emotions, in a very short time worked wonders in 

 his physical condition. During working hours the 

 improvement was noticeable from the first. 



And in the evening, instead of flinging himself 

 down on his bed and groaning until supper time he 

 hovered uneasily in the vicinity of the cook tent until 

 Bert's "Take her a-w-a-a-ay!" announced that the 

 meal was ready. 



All the known circumstances of the probationary 

 experiment were discussed freely by every one, both 

 in and out of Wetherby's presence. It had come to 

 be assumed among us generally that he had no pride, 

 no sensibility. As a matter of fact Horace simply 

 couldn't conceive of any one making game of him 

 or treating his pretensions as absurd. But now, un- 

 der the goad of constant ridicule, it was apparent 

 that he was beginning to take note of and resent the 

 scarcely veiled amusement and contempt of his co- 



