San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-02-17


too new; It ought to be old and gray like tho
colleges We saw coming up hera Ia every
body gons awsy-gons down. you ssyt i
should Like to see all the loar ned people walk
ing about for once
~ could show you o. good many IL there
were time" said young Sartoris, hardly
knowing, however, what he was saying, so
lost was he in admiration Of that marvellous
changing face. Tho vacation Is tho time
they show themselves; it's like owls COM
ing out at night. You see, Miss Bretherton,
we don't keep many Of them; they're in the
way in term time. But in vacation they have
the colleges and the parks and the Bodleian
to themselves, and you may study their
ways, and their spectacles, and their umbrel-
las, under the most favorable conditions"
"Oh, yes" said Miss Bretherton, with a
little scorn, people always make fun of
what they are proud of. But mean 20 be-
lieve that you are all learned, and that every
body hero works himself to death, and that
Oxford is quite, quite perfect"
did you hear what Miss Bretherton was
saying, Mrs Stuart" said Forbes, when they
| were seated at luncheon. oxford is perfect,
she declares already; | don't think / quite
| like it; it's too hot to last"
Am l such changeable creature, then!"
| said Miss Bretherton, smiling at him. do
| you generally find my enthusiasts cool
| DOWN.
"You are as constant as you are kind"
| said Forbes, bowling to her. Il am only like
| a child who signs to see pleasure nearing
| its highest point, lest there should be nothing
| so good afterwards"
Nothing so good" she said, land haye
| only had one little drive through the streets.
! Mr.. Wallace, are you and Mrs. Stuart really
| going to forbid me sight seeingp
| "Of coursew said Wallace, emphatically.
I That's one of the fundamental rules of the
| society. Our charter would be dead letter
| if We let you enter a single college on your
! way to the river today"
THE only art, my dear Isabel" said Mrs.
| Stuart, that you will be allowed to study
today will be the art Of conversation"
And a most fatiguing one, toop ex-
| claimed Forbes; sit beats sight seeing hollow.
But, my dear Miss Bretherton, Kendall and
will make it up to you. Well give you an
| illustrated history Of Oxford on tho way to
| Nuneham. I'll do the pictures, and he shall
| do the letter press. Obi the good times I've
had up there-much better than he ever
| bad, )" nodding across to Kendall, who was
listening. HE was too proper behaved to
| enjoy himself; he got all the right things,
| all tho proper first classes and prizes, poor
fellow But as for me, used to scribbls
| over my note books all lecture time, and
| anluse myself tho rest of the day. And then,
| you see, was up twenty years earlier than
| he was, and the world was not as virtuous
then as it is now by long way"
| Kendall was interrupting when Forbes, who
| was in enc of his maddest moods, turned
| round upon his chair to watch figure pass
| ing along tho quadrangle in front Of the bay
| window.
II say Sartoris, isn't that Camden, the
| tutor who was turned out of MaEdalen .
| year or two ago for that atheistical book of
his, and whom you took in, as you do all the
disreputablesi All, know it.
By the pricking of my thumbs
| Something wicked thus way comes.
| That's not mine my dear Miss Bretherton;
| it's ShakeSpesre'S first, Charles Lambs after
| wards But look at him well-he's hereto,
| real, genuine hereto. Twenty years ago
! IL would have been a thrilling sight; but
| now, alas it's SO common that it's not the
victim but the prosecutors who are the curl
osity."
~ don't know that" said young Sartoris
/
the walk that We were few years ago. You
| sec, now We have got nothing to pull against,
as 1t were So long as we had two or three
| good grievances we could keep the party to-
gether and attract all the young men. We
wero Israel going up against the Philistines,
| who had US in their grip But now things
| are changed; we've got our own way all
round, and it's the church party who have
| tho grievances and the cry. 1t is we who
are the Philistines and the oppressors in our
turn. and, of course, the young men as they
grow up are going into opposition"
And . very good thing, toow said Forbes.
Its the only thing that prevents Oxford be-
coming as dull as the rest of the world. All
your picturesqueness, SO to speak, has been
struck out of the struggle between tho two
| forces. The church force is the one that has
given you all your buildings and your beauty,
while, as for you liberals, who will know such
a lot Of things that you're mono the happier
for knowing-well, suppose you keep the
place habitable for the plain man who doesn't
want to be bullied. But it's a very good
thing the other side are strong enough to
keep you in order"
The conversation flowed on vigorously
Forbes guiding it, now here, now there, while
Kendall presently turned away to talk in an
undertone to Mrs. Stuart, who sat next to
him, at the further corner of the table from
Miss Bretherton.
Edward has told you of my escapade,"
said Mrs. Stuart. YES, have put my foot
in it dreadfully l don't know how it will
turn out, | am sure. She's so set upon it, and
Edward is so worried l don't know how |
came to tell her You see, I've seen so much