carpets and curtains. Jack lit a cigarette, sank into a chair, and
presently said, "You must get awfully sick of the undergraduates, I
should think, day after day?"

"No, I don't," said Howard; "in fact I must confess that I like
work and feel dull without it--but that shows that I am an elderly
man."

"Yes, I don't care about my work," said Jack, "and I think I shall
get rather tired of being up here before I have done with it. It's
rather pointless, I think. Of course it's quite amusing; but I want
to do something real, make some real money, and talk about
business. I shall go into the city, I think."

"I don't believe you care about anything but money," said Howard;
"you are a barbarian!"

"No, I don't care about money," said Jack; "only one must have
enough--what I like are REAL things. I couldn't go on just learning
things up till I was twenty-three, and then teaching them till I
was sixty-three. Of course I think it is awfully good of you to do
it, but I can't think why or how you do it."

"I suppose I don't care about real things," said Howard.

"No, I can't quite make you out," said Jack with a smiling air,
"because of course you are quite different from the other dons--
nobody would suppose you were a don--everyone says that."

"It's very kind of you to say so," said Howard, "but I am not sure