England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction; Love stories; Oxford (England) -- Fiction; Young women -- Fiction
“Oh, there was a bit of a row last night. We were larking round the
fountain, trying to push each other in, and I cut my hand on one of
those rotten old pipes. Beastly luck! But Fanning’s done everything. I
shall be all right directly. There’s a little bone broken.”
“A bone broken!—your hand!” ejaculated Sorell, who sat down and looked
at him in dismay.
“Yes—I wish it had been my foot! But it doesn’t matter. That kind of
thing gets well quickly, doesn’t it?” He eyed his visitor anxiously.
“You see I never was really ill in my life.”
“Well, we can’t run any risks about it,” said Sorell decidedly. “I
shall go and see Fanning. If there’s any doubt about it, I shall carry
you up to London, and get one of the crack surgeons to come and look at
it. What was the row about?”
Radowitz’s eyes contracted so that Sorell could make nothing out of
them.
“I really can’t remember,” said the lad’s weary voice. “There’s been a
lot of rowing lately.”
“Who made the row?”
“What’s the good of asking questions?” The speaker turned irritably
away. “I’ve had such a lot of beastly dreams all night, I can’t tell
what happened, and what didn’t happen. It was just a jolly row, that’s
all I know.”
Sorell perceived that for some reason Radowitz was not going to tell
him the story. But he was confident that Douglas Falloden had been at
the bottom of it, and he felt a fierce indignation. He had however to
keep it to himself, as it was clear that questions excited and annoyed
the patient.
He sat by the boy a little, observing him. Then he suggested that
Bateson the scout and he should push the bed into the sitting-room, for
greater air and space. Radowitz hesitated, and then consented. Sorell
went out to speak to Bateson.
“All right, sir,” said the scout. “I’ve just about got the room
straight; but I had to get another man to help me. They must have gone
on something fearful. There wasn’t an article in the room that wasn’t
knocked about.”
“Who did it?” said Sorell shortly.
The scout looked embarrassed.
“Well, of course, sir, I don’t know for certain. I wasn’t there to see.
But I do hear Mr. Falloden, and Lord Meyrick, and Mr. Robertson were in
it—and there were some other gentlemen besides. There’s been a deal of
ragging in this college lately, sir. I do think, sir, as the fellows
should stop it.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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