civilization. It was not sufficient glory to be a Blue there, nor
an additional glory to get drunk. Many a maiden lady who had read
that Cambridge men were sad dogs, was surprised and perhaps a
little disappointed at the reasonable life which greeted her.
Miss Appleblossom in particular had had a tremendous shock. The
sight of young fellows making tea and drinking water had made her
wonder whether this was Cambridge College at all. "It is so," she
exclaimed afterwards. "It is just as I say; and what's more, I
wouldn't have it otherwise; Stewart says it's as easy as easy to
get into the swim, and not at all expensive." The direction of
the swim was determined a little by the genius of the place--for
places have a genius, though the less we talk about it the
better--and a good deal by the tutors and resident fellows, who
treated with rare dexterity the products that came up yearly from
the public schools. They taught the perky boy that he was not
everything, and the limp boy that he might be something. They
even welcomed those boys who were neither limp nor perky, but
odd--those boys who had never been at a public school at all, and
such do not find a welcome everywhere. And they did everything
with ease--one might almost say with nonchalance, so that the
boys noticed nothing, and received education, often for the first
time in their lives.

But Rickie turned to none of these friends, for just then he
loved his rooms better than any person. They were all he really
possessed in the world, the only place he could call his own.
Over the door was his name, and through the paint, like a grey
ghost, he could still read the name of his predecessor. With a
sigh of joy he entered the perishable home that was his for a
couple of years. There was a beautiful fire, and the kettle