Evening star., 1938-12-14
BY H. G. WELLS.
ChaDter Nv.
FIRST FLIGHT,

that he Of all people had misjudged
his world, that even now that he
had got to Camford, 1t was going to
be a much more difficult world than
he had supposed. He thought about
| 1t at nights and he betrayed an
intense evaporation when people
made banal remarks about it to
him. Apparently the whole system
of things had conspired to anticipate
his ambitions and corner and de-
feat him.
But indeed the whole system of
things was not thinking of Rud at
all. 1t was thinking and thinking
very incoherently about itself. More
and more of the two thousand mil
lion or so who constituted humanity
were falling into very much the same
line of thought and feeling as that
along which he was drifting. 1t was
like the way particles change their
orientation in magnetized bar.
1t was like bits Of crumbling ore
falling one after another into a
f1ux. This sense of insecurity was
spreading about the entire planet
and though people went on doing
the things they usually did, they
had none Of the assurance, the
happy go-lucky "all right" feeling,
that had hitherto sustained normal
men. They went on doing their
customary things because they could
not think of anything else to do.
They tried to believe, and many
did succeed in believing, that there
would presently be turn for the
better. They did nothing to bring
about that turn for the better; they
just hoped it would occur. All the
same they were worried. Rud was
very seriously worried. He had no
disposition to believe in the natural
benevolence of the universe.
Never Very Clear.
They ought not to have let things
come to this" he said, but he was
never very clear even to himself who
or why They" were nor what This"
was. Some person or persons un-
known was to blame. He hated these
unknowns in general. But he was
unable to focus his hatred into hat
Ing some responsible person or per-
sons in particular. If only he could
find who it was had neglected to
DO something, or had done some-
thing wrong or messed about with
things. they would catch it. He'd
get even with them somehow.
There had been time when Cam
ford was the very heart OF con-
servatism. 1t was a bilateral con-
servatism in those days-and one
half OF 1t was called the Liberal
Party. 1t dominated the country
without effort as matter OF course.
Its only use for subversive ideas
was the opportunities they afforded
for privileged rags. People with
revolutionary minds and advanced"
notions were invited to address
meetings and conduct debates, and
were then kidnapped, ducked, per-
sonated and so forth, all in the
most perfect good humor and with
the unostentatious approval Of the
| authorities
But when Rudie went up, those
golden days were already ancient
history. He had read about them
in books, but behold! they were
over. The Great War had strained
Camford, and Camford, after phase
OF hectic optimism while it was re-
constructing what was left of the
old undergraduates who had gone
to the front, remained strained and
began even to realize how strained
1t was. A subtle change in the
quality OF the multiplying students
and the younger dons, due to the
belated but extensive expansion of
lower middle-class education and
the development of what was called
the educational ladder, had gone on
and continued. A new uneasy type
was swamping the ancient conf
dence of those venerable colleges,
young men who said, Eyes, but" to
everything, over whose apprehen-
sive minds the perception of de-
caying privileges and of imperial
enervation, shrinkage and decline,
hung more and more heavily.
Broadened His Activities.
For year and more Rud stuck
to his lectures and books. The
teaching of Hooplady House had
been urgent for examination sue
cesses rather than first-class in itself
and he had much to revise and sup
plement. Then he began to take
notice of events outside the class
room.
He began to attend political
gatherings and discussion circles; he
took to reading and comparing q
number of newspapers; his large
brow and lowering expression were
to be seen at the back of stuffy
and drafty rooms, disliking and
scrutlnizing the speakers and watch
ing every reaction of the audience.
He was puzzled but he hung on,
and his mind became more and more
involved in this extra academic
stuff. He Joined the union and
snorted and growled and indulged
IN ironical and imperfectly audible
comments through three discussions.
Each time he wanted to speak and
didn't dare. Then at debate upon
the resolution, THAT a drastic
change in our economic life in the
direction of collectiV1sm is long
overdue" he wrenched himself up
from his seat, drew a deep breath
and began his maiden speech.
He spoke for the motion. Words
came. He found he could think on
his legs. He could forget himself in
his subject. Once started, his
speech rambled indeed, but rambled
Interestingly. His sentences flowed
easily. They were going over, he
realized. He was less and less scared
and more and more fluent. He was
keeping his head and quite aware
of what he was doing. He found he
could hold sentence, even quite q
long sentence; bring out its conclu-
sion with an emphasized clearness