"Then you cannot blame the undesirables," her rector responded.

Larry's looks had, certainly, a spell that was something in excess of
what may be called their "face-value." Though legal manhood was so
soon to be his status, he had still some of the radiance of childhood
about him. His hair was of the same pure and infantine gold that it
had been when he charged down on the Eldest Statesman on the
stepping-stones of the Ownashee; his blue eyes had lost none of their
candour; the touch of gilding on his upper lip was effective only at
short range, but, when taken in connection with a very white and even
set of teeth, and a beaming and ever-ready smile, it carried
considerable weight. His fair skin had not yet taken on its summer
scorch of carmine, and its soft and babyish pinkness softened the
salience of his short nose, and induced the critic to condone the want
of decision in his chin.

"Not a _handsome_ boy, exactly," people said, "but," and here
people would smile relentingly, "if he had been a girl, one would
certainly _quite_ have said 'pretty'--so attractive-looking, and
so--so clean!" which might seem to be the condemnation of faint
praise, but was, in reality, merely the tribute that Larry's
new-minted goldenness of aspect startled from the beholder.

He was no more than five foot nine in height, which was a trial that
at times he felt deeply, but there are practical advantages for a
young man who rides, in being able to do so at something considerably
under eleven stone. At boxing, rowing, and games, what he lost in
weight and reach, he made up for in speed and elasticity and
endurance. Finally, it may be said that his figure had the gift of