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scarlet fever, and there was much talk of sending them all
home in order to escape an epidemic; but the sufferers were
isolated, and since no more were attacked it was supposed
that the outbreak was stopped. One of the stricken was
Philip. He remained in hospital through the Easter holi-
days, and at the beginning of the summer term was sent
home to the vicarage to get a little fresh air. The Vicar, not-
withstanding medical assurance that the boy was no longer
infectious, received him with suspicion; he thought it very
inconsiderate of the doctor to suggest that his nephew’s
convalescence should be spent by the seaside, and consent-
ed to have him in the house only because there was nowhere
else he could go.
Philip went back to school at half-term. He had forgotten
the quarrels he had had with Rose, but remembered only
that he was his greatest friend. He knew that he had been sil-
ly. He made up his mind to be more reasonable. During his
illness Rose had sent him in a couple of little notes, and he
had ended each with the words: ‘Hurry up and come back.’
Philip thought Rose must be looking forward as much to
his return as he was himself to seeing Rose.
He found that owing to the death from scarlet fever of
one of the boys in the Sixth there had been some shifting
in the studies and Rose was no longer in his. It was a bit-
ter disappointment. But as soon as he arrived he burst into
Rose’s study. Rose was sitting at his desk, working with a
boy called Hunter, and turned round crossly as Philip came
in.
‘Who the devil’s that?’ he cried. And then, seeing Philip:

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