about this acquaintance between Malcolm Herrick and Cedric
Templeton. The vice-president of Magdalene was an old friend of the
Herrick family, and was indeed distantly related to Mrs. Herrick;
and after Malcolm had taken his degree and left Lincoln, he often
spent a week or two with Dr. Medcalf. He was an old bachelor, and
one of the most sociable of men, and his rooms were the envy of his
friends. Malcolm was a great favourite with him, and was always
welcome when he could spare time to run down for a brief visit.

About two years before, he was spending a few days with his friend,
when one evening as he was strolling down Addison's Walk in the
gloaming, his attention was attracted by a young undergraduate. He
was seated on a bench with his head in his hands; but at the sound
of passing footsteps he moved slightly, and Malcolm caught sight of
a white boyish face and haggard eyes that looked at him a little
wildly; then he covered his face again. Malcolm walked on a few
steps; his kind heart was shocked at the lad's evident misery, but
to his reserved nature it was never easy to make the first advance;
indeed, he often remarked that he had rather a fellow-feeling with
the Levite who passed by on the other side.

"I daresay he was sorry for the poor traveller in his heart," he
observed, "but it takes a deal of moral courage to be a Good
Samaritan; it is not easy for a shy man, for example, to render
first aid to a poor chap with a fractured limb in the middle of a
crowd of sympathising bystanders--one's self-consciousness and
British hatred of a scene seem to choke one off."

So, true to his diffident nature, Malcolm walked to the other end of
Addison's Walk; then something seemed to drag at him, and he