a suddenly damped mood and a little perplexed at ourselves, crawled out, to be presently run down and caught in the tamest way by Archie.
That comes back very clearly to me, and other vague memories—I know old Hall and his gun, out shooting at jackdaws, came into our common experiences, but I don't remember how; and then at last, abruptly, our fight in the Warren stands out. The Warren, like most places in England that have that name, was not particularly a warren, it was a long slope of thorns and beeches through which a path ran, and made an alternative route to the downhill carriage road between Bladesover and Ropedean. I don't know how we three got there, but I have an uncertain fancy it was connected with a visit paid by the governess to the Ropedean vicarage people. But suddenly Archie and I, in discussing a game, fell into a dispute for Beatrice. I had made him the fairest offer: I was to be a Spanish nobleman, she was to be my wife, and he was to be a tribe of Indians trying to carry her off. It seems to me a fairly attractive offer to a boy to be a whole tribe of Indians with a chance of such a booty. But Archie suddenly took offence.
"No," he said;" we can't have that!"
"Can't have what?"
"You can't be a gentleman, because you aren't. And you can't play Beatrice is your wife. It's—it's impertinent."
"But" I said, and looked at her.
Some earlier grudge in the day's affair must have been in Archie's mind. "We let you play with us," said Archie; "but we can't have things like that."
"What rot!" said Beatrice. "He can if he likes."
But he carried his point. I let him carry it, and
