124 " MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE ! " 



an imposition, still less cane him, and often on catching 

 sight of recreants who were " out of bounds " I used to 

 go down another street so as to avoid meeting and having 

 to punish them. This may have been due to a selfish 

 desire not to disturb my own equanimity. Who can say ? 

 The origin of motives is almost unfathomable. 



I got on very well with my own fags, but there again 

 I saved myself any chance of worry by always choosing 

 among my gang, when we distributed the house fags, 

 one who was good at games and really too good to be an 

 ordinary fag. Him I appointed Saturday night fag, 

 and his duties were simply to see that the others did their 

 work properly week by week, and also to make sure that 

 Saturday night supper was sent in all right from Hobley's 

 or Jacomb's, when also he would partake of it with the 

 rest of us. 



The constant mention of these suppers in my letters, 

 and also of hampers wanted, would lead a casual reader 

 to think that we were a greedy crew, but in point of fact 

 we were only hungry, the ordinary food then given being 

 quite insufficient. I quote from two letters (undated) 

 written during 1868 ; 



Yesterday was somewhat amusing. Stuart Wortley had gone 

 to Leamington, and before going had, unknown to us, ordered 

 a large repast at Jacomb's for the night. Still and I, unaware of 

 this, ordered another sumptuous one at Hobley's ; and the result 

 was, we had salmon, lamb, green peas ; duck, green peas ; one 

 ice pudding another ice pudding an immense dish of straw- 

 berries, and, of course, plenty of iced claret cup. We managed it 

 all however well enough. 



Doubtless there were at least half-a-dozen of us con- 

 cerned in this Gargantuan repast, which one might think 

 would have satisfied any youthful requirements, but it 

 seems to have paled into insignificance in the light of 

 another experience, mentioned in a letter written a week 

 or two later ; 



Last night Still, Stuart Wortley and I went to supper with our 

 friends in Moberly's house. They had a most gorgeous enter- 



