RAGGING 223 



the strange couple could be who seemed to know 

 him so well, whom he did not recollect ever 

 having previously laid eyes on. He must finally 

 have come to the conclusion that he had probably 

 made our acquaintance on board ship, or in some 

 Swiss hotel, and that his memory had played 

 him false; for by the time he was within ten 

 yards of us he had evidently decided to do what 

 was apparently expected of him, and his face 

 lit up with a polite but somewhat nervous grin 

 of recognition. 



This was, of course, the signal for George and 

 me to assume a look of frigid hostility, as, 

 glaring ferociously at him, as though indignant 

 at his impertinence, we passed him coldly by. 



It was pathetic to watch our victim's genial 

 smile freeze upon his lips; and when he looked 

 round and saw us smiling at someone farther up 

 the street, he seemed inclined to kick himself 

 with annoyance. 



George and I repeated this process with dif- 

 ferent strangers until we reached Trafalgar 

 Square, buoyed up the while with the conscious- 

 ness that we were supplying our various victims 

 with stories to tell to their wives when they 

 reached home, and were thus infusing gaiety 

 and colour into many an otherwise drab and 

 dreary household. 



A strong gale was blowing round the base of 



