"Pritchard needn't talk," interposed Clanwell, laughing. "During _his_ first prep they mixed carbide and water under his chair." The rest of the Common-Room, among whom Pritchard was no favourite, joined in the laughter. Then Clanwell took up the thread, kinder in his narrative than Pritchard had been. "I liked Harrington. He was a good sort, but he wasn't made for a schoolmaster. I told him so, and after his breakdown he took my advice and left the profession." "Breakdown?" said Speed. "He had a breakdown then?" "Yes, his wife died when his daughter was born. He never told us anything about it. One morning he collapsed over a four _alpha_ English form. I was next door. I was used to a row, but the terrible pandemonium made me wonder if anything had happened. I went in and found the little devils giving him sportive first-aid. They'd half undressed him. My word!--I picked out those that were in my house and gave them a tidy thrashing. Don't you remember, Lavery?" "I remember," said the indolent Lavery, "you trying to persuade me to do the same with my little lot." "But Harrington?" queried Speed, anxious that the conversation should not be diverted into other channels. "Oh, well," resumed Clanwell, "he left Millstead and took to--shall we call it literature?" "What do you mean?" "What do I mean?--" Clanwell laughed. "D'you mean to tell me you haven't heard of Samuel Harrington, author of the famous 'Helping-Hand-Books'?" "I haven't." "Then I must lend you one or two of them. They'll do you good. Lavery and I attribute our remarkable success in life to our careful study of them, don't we, Lavery?" "Do we, Clanwell?" Ransome, wizened and Voltairish, and agreeable company when stirred to anecdote, began: "Ah! 'How to be Powerful' was the best, though I think 'How to Become a Dominating Personality' was pretty good. The drollest of all was 'How to Meet Difficulties.' Speed has a treat in store if he hasn't read them. They're all in the school-library. The fellow used to send the Head free autographed copies of each one of them as it appeared." Ransome, rarely beguiled into conversation, always secured a respectful audience. After a silence he went on: "I used to know old Harrington pretty well after he took to--writing. He once told me the entire circumstances of his début into the literary profession. It was rather droll." Ransome paused, and Speed said: "I'd like to hear it."