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Chapter II: SCHOOL DAYS

School Days! Was there ever a happier time? I was sent to Dr. Bodey's in West Kensington.

cast-iron fire guard

The name was on the door - "Dryburgh." You could not mistake it.

door plate with MELROSE inscription

Although a martyr to kidney trouble for

cufflink

years, Dr. Bodey was a powerful man and an adept at all outdoor sports.

aunt sally shy stall

lady in winter gear He had married a Swiss, a lady as active as himself,

and together they held the championship at Spiro-pole.

spiro-pole game

A lenient and generous teacher, the Doctor took us often to the Crystal Palace

birdcage

or to the Zoo.

early electric iron

Our favourite game was leapfrog.

ingenious clothes hanger

I was at this time a handsome boy of fourteen.

boy in loden jacket and plus-twos

Among my school fellows were some delightful lads,

misc boys

chiefly the sons of the nobility and clergy.

boy in kilt My closest friend was Eustace Bleek-Wether with whom I often spent the vacations;

boy in dinner jacket and my bête noire was the Hon. Harold Crumpton, who made my life at school a perfect hell for the first three months.

His father was a learned and interesting man, with, alas, one sad and only too common failing,

table with bottles of bay rum

They lived in a beautiful home nestling in the Surrey hills.

toy castle

We both adored the matron.

nurse

In spite of this rivalry we were friends, and remained so after leaving Dr. Bodey's and passing through the 'Varsity.

two young gents

Eustace was brilliant in every way. A wonderful fisherman;

fisherman with deadbait montage

and a crack shot, rarely bringing down his birds singly.

boy with rifle and birds brooch montage

Once, however, (I remember) he missed his quarry. Time after time he fired, but the bird was still there.

eagle lectern

Poor Eustace! a fatal fascination for the Pole gripped him,

eskimo doll

and he now lies in a silent grave beneath the Arctic star.

cross medal

young gent at ease To return to my own story, I left school when I was eighteen and went to Oxford College,

and at the age of twenty-two I became a man about town with a latch-key of my own.

ornate key

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