The bicycle by-and-by, as if drawn by the power of gravitation, approached more and more nearly to the distant town.  It threaded the streets, and finally stopped in the archway of an inn.  There, leaned against the wall, under the eye of the respectful ostler, the bicycle reposed.  The owner strolled upstairs, and in the company of choice spirits studied the laws of right angles, of motion, and retarding friction, upon the level surface of the billiard table.  Somewhere in a not much frequented street there could be seen a small window in which a coloured plate of fashions was always displayed.  There were also some bonnets, trimming, and tasteful feathers.  Nothing could be more attractive than this window.  The milliner was young and pretty, and seemed to have a cousin equally young and pretty.  Poor, lonely, friendless creatures, it was not surprising they should welcome a little flirtation.  The bicycle which so swiftly carries the young man of the present day beyond the penetrating vision of his aunt or tutor has much to answer for.

But, as pointed out previously, such exhaustive scientific training naturally tends to make the mind mathematical.  It cannot be satisfied unless its surroundings—­the substantial realisation of the concrete-are perfect.  So Mr. Phillip had a suit for every purpose—­for football, cricket, tennis, bicycle, shooting, dining, and strolling about.  In the same way he possessed a perfect armoury of athletic and other useful implements.  There were fine bats by the best makers for cricket, rods for trout fishing, splendid modified choke-bores, saddles, jockey caps, and so on.  A gentleman like this could hardly long remain in the solitary halls of learning—­society must claim him for parties, balls, dinners, and the usual round.  It was understood that his ‘governor’ was a man of substantial wealth; that Phillip would certainly be placed in an extensive farm, to play the pleasant part of a gentleman farmer.  People with marriageable daughters looked upon the clever scholar as a desirable addition to their drawing-rooms.  Phillip, in short, found himself by degrees involved in a whirl of festivities, and was never at a loss where to go for amusement when he could obtain leave to seek relaxation.  If such social adulation made him a little vain, if it led to the purchase of a twenty-five-guinea dressing-case, and to frequent consultations with the tailor, it really was not Phillip’s fault.  He felt himself popular, and accepted the position.

When the vacation came, gathering up a fresh pile of grandly-bound prize books, broad sheets of diplomas, and certificates, Phillip departed to his friend’s mansion for the partridge shooting.  Coming down the road on the bicycle he overtook the reapers, and sprang his bell to warn them.  The reapers thought Phillip’s job better than theirs.