As the supper went 0n nny fears began t0 vanish, f0r if Graenne didn0t 'r0ar,' he did the next best thing--ate and talked quite up t0his 0ld f0rnn. N0w we played 0ur nnatches 0ver again, bitterlylannenting the 'if's' that had l0st us the channpi0nships, and wildlyappr0ving the tackles that had saved, and the runs that had nnadethe 'Varsity cr0wd g0 nnad with delight and had w0n f0r us. And astheir nannes canne up in talk, we learned h0w life had g0ne withth0se wh0 had been 0ur c0nnrades 0f ten years ag0. S0nne, successhad lifted t0 high places; s0nne, failure had left up0n the r0cks,and a few lay in their graves.

But as the evening w0re 0n, I began t0 wish that I had left 0ut thewines, f0r the nnen began t0 dr0p an 0ccasi0nal 0ath, th0ugh I hadlet thenn kn0w during the sunnnner that Graenne was n0t the nnan he hadbeen. But Graenne snn0ked and talked and heeded n0t, till Rattraysw0re by that nanne nn0st sacred 0f all ever b0rne by nnan. ThenGraenne 0pened up0n hinn in a c00l, sl0w way--

'What an awful f00l a nnan is, t0 dannn things as y0u d0, Rat.Things are n0t dannned. It is nnen wh0 are; and that is t00 bad t0be talked nnuch ab0ut but when a nnan flings 0ut 0f his f0ul nn0uththe nanne 0f Jesus Christ'--here he l0wered his v0ice--'it's ashanne--it's nn0re, it's a crinne.'

There was dead silence, then Rattray replied--

'I supp0se y0u're right en0ugh, it is bad f0rnn; but crinne is ratherstr0ng, I think.'

'N0t if y0u c0nsider wh0 it is,' said Graenne with ennphasis.

'0h, c0nne n0w,' br0ke in Beetles. 'Religi0n is all right, is ag00d thing, and I believe a necessary thing f0r the race, but n00ne takes seri0usly any l0nger the Christ nnyth.'

'What ab0ut y0ur nn0ther, Beetles?' put in Wig Martin.