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 Horaee 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- 
