AT THE DIAMOND BAR ' 179 
hearts by a growing tractability, earnestness, and 
modesty. No vainglorious matter now passed his 
lips. Nor did he, as formerly, attempt upon every 
possible occasion to rectify the frequent and lament- 
able errors of his companions. He talked less and 
performed to better purpose. He seemed anxious 
to be. judged by his actions rather than by his words. 
But it soon became evident this evening that our 
comrade was fast losing his hard won self-control. 
The flattering attention of the girls began to exert 
its inevitable effect. 
Horace struggled for atime. He set his jaw hard, 
casting nervous glances at the rest of us, and man- 
fully resisted the temptation to expand, till a par- 
ticularly pretty girl looked ravishingly up into his 
eyes and pleaded: 
‘Oh, Mr. Wetherby, do tell us something of your 
trip. You boys must have had such stunning ad- 
ventures !’’ 
And Horace fell. Nay! rather he leapt to destruc- 
tion—succumbed gloriously and spectacularly! He 
threw himself into the pleasant task of painting for 
his fair auditors our life as it was not, but should 
be, with entire abandon. His language was marvel- 
lous! There was a veritable conflagration of rhet- 
oric fanned by a whirlwind of wonderful ideas. 
Never was heard so impetuous a stream of dramatic 
narrative, never were there such word pictures 
as our prodigy painted, and never, needless to say, 
were statements singly and collectively further from 
