“To make sure,” Stalky amplified. “If he was like King, he’d have shut up Beetle an’ Turkey at the start, but he’d have thought King gave us the Bacon notion. Well, he didn’t shut ’em up; so they’re playin’ it again this afternoon. If he stands it then, he’ll be sure King gave us the notion. Either way, it’s dead-safe for us--_an’_ King.” At the afternoon’s _viva voce_, before they sat down to the Augustans, the Examiner wished to hear, “with no bearing on the examination, of course,” from those two candidates who had asked him about Question Seven. Which were they? “Take off your gigs, you owl,” said Stalky between his teeth. Beetle pocketed them and looked into blurred vacancy with a voice coming out of it that asked: “Who--what gave you that idea about Shakespeare?” From Stalky’s kick he knew the question was for him. “Some people say, sir, there’s a good deal of doubt about it nowadays, sir.” “Ye-es, that’s true, but----” “It’s his knowin’ so much about legal phrases,” Turkey was in support--a lone gun barking somewhere to his right. “That is a crux, I admit. Of course, whatever one may think privately, officially Shakespeare _is_ Shakespeare. But how have _you_ been taught to look at the question?” “Well, Holmes says it’s impossible he could----” “On the legal phraseology alone, sir,” McTurk chimed in. “Ah, but the theory is that Shakespeare’s experiences in the society of that day brought him in contact with all the leading intellects.” The Examiner’s voice was quite colloquial now. “But they didn’t think much of actors then, sir, did they?” This was Howell cooing like a cushat dove. “I mean----” The Examiner explained the status of the Elizabethan actor in some detail, ending: “And that makes it the more curious, doesn’t it?” “And this Shakespeare was supposed to be writin’ plays and actin’ in ’em _all_ the time?” McTurk asked, with sinister meaning. “Exactly what I--what lots of people have pointed out. Where did he get the time to acquire all his special knowledge?” “Then it looks as if there was something in it, doesn’t it, sir?” “That,” said the Examiner, squaring his elbows at ease on the desk, “is a very large question which----” “Yes, sir!”--in half-a-dozen eagerly attentive keys.... For decency’s sake a few Augustan questions were crammed in conscience-strickenly, about the last ten minutes. Howell took them since they involved dates, but the answers, though highly marked, were scarcely heeded. When the clock showed six-thirty the Examiner addressed them as “Gentlemen”; and said he would have particular pleasure in speaking well of this Army Class, which had evinced such a genuine and unusual interest in English Literature, and which reflected the greatest credit on their instructors. He passed out: the Form upstanding, as custom was. “He’s goin’ to congratulate King,” said Howell. “Don’t make a row! ‘Don’t--make--a--noise--Or else you’ll wake the Baby!’”... * * * * *