III


By the time that Carter and King had written their chapters and
read them aloud, the Scorpions were all frankly adorers of
Kathleen; by midterm she had become an obsession. Eric Twiston
and Bob Graham, "doing a Cornstalk" (as walking on Cornmarket
Street is elegantly termed) were wont to dub any really
delightful girl they saw as "a Kathleen sort of person." At the
annual dinner of the club, which took place in a private dining
room at the "Clarry" (the Clarendon Hotel) in February, Forbes
was called upon to respond to the toast "The Real Kathleen." His
voice, tremulous with emotion and absinthe frappe, nearly failed
him; but he managed to stammer a few phrases which, thought at
the time to be extemporaneous, called forth loud applause; but it
was found later that he had jotted them down on the tablecloth
during the soup and fish courses. "Fellow Scorpers," he said, "I
mean you chaps, look here, I'm not much at this dispatch-box
business, but--hem--I want to say that I regard Kathleen with
feelings of iridescent emotion. I feel sure that she is a
pronounced brunette and that the Blue Flapper we all used to see
at the East Ocker is nowhere. I've been playing lackers
(lacrosse) this term and I give you my word that when I've been
bloody well done in and had an absolute needle of funk I had only
to think of Kathleen to buck me up. Hem. Now gentlemen, you may
think I'm drunk (loud cries of _No_!) but I want to say in truth
and soberness that any man who thinks he's got Kathleen for
bondwoman--hem--has me to reckon with!"

The applause at this speech was so immoderate that a party