College students -- Fiction; Murder -- Fiction; Murderers -- Fiction
He had come with a historical scholarship and a great reputation as a
Three-quarter from Rugby. He was considered to be a certain First Class
and a certain Rugby Blue; he, lazily and indifferently during the course
of his first term, discouraged both these anticipations. He attended
no lectures, received a Third Class in his May examinations, and was
deprived of his scholarship at the end of his first year. He played
brilliantly in the Freshmen's Rugby match, but so indolently in the
first University match of the season that he was not invited again. Had
he played merely badly he would have been given a second trial, but
his superior insolence was considered insulting. He never played in
any College matches nor did he trouble to watch any of their glorious
conflicts. Once and again he produced an Essay for his Tutor that
astonished that gentleman very considerably, but when called before the
Dean for neglecting to attend lectures explained that he was studying
the Later Roman Empire and could not possibly attend to more than one
thing at a time.
He was perfectly friendly to every one, and it was curious that, with
his air of contempt for the world in general, he had made no enemies. He
wondered at that himself, on occasions; he had always been supposed, for
instance, to be very good friends with Carfax. He had, of course, always
hated Carfax--and now Carfax was dead.
The little crooked path soon left the dark wood and merged into the long
white Cambridge road. The flat country was veiled in mist, only, like
a lantern above a stone wall, the sun was red over the lower veils of
white that rose from the sodden fields. Some trees started like spies
along the road. Overhead, where the mists were faint, the sky showed the
faintest of pale blue. The long road rang under Olva's step--it would be
a frosty night.
When the little wood was now a black ball in the mist Olva was suddenly
sick. He leant against one of the dark mysterious trees and was
wretchedly, horribly ill. Slowly, then, the colour came back to his
cheeks, his hands were once more steady, he could see again clearly. He
addressed the strange world about him, the long flat fields, the hard
white road, the orange sun. "That is the last time," he said aloud, "the
last weakness."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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