A Slip under the Microscope by H.G. Wells
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he, though the thought never occurred to him . the loan of News from nowhere was_the beginning of a series of cross loans . upon some absurd first principle of_his, hill had never " wasted time" upon poetry, and it seemed an appalling deficiency to her . one day in_the lunch hour, when she chanced upon him alone in_the little museum where the skeletons were arranged, shamefully eating the bun that constituted his midday meal, she retreated, and returned to lend him, with a slightly furtive air, a volume of Browning . he stood sideways towards her and took the book rather clumsily, because he_was holding the bun in_the other hand . and in_the retrospect his voice lacked the cheerful clearness he could_have wished .

that occurred after_the examination in comparative anatomy, on_the day before_the college turned out its students, and was carefully locked up by_the officials, for_the Christmas holidays . the excitement of cramming for_the first trial of strength had for a little while dominated hill, to_the exclusion of_his other interests . in_the forecasts of_the result in_which everyone indulged he_was surprised to_find that no one regarded him as a possible competitor for_the Harvey commemoration medal, of_which this and_the two subsequent examinations disposed . it_was about_this_time that Wedderburn, who so_far had lived inconspicuously on_the uttermost margin of hill's perceptions, began to_take on_the appearance of an obstacle . by a mutual agreement, the nocturnal prowlings with Thorpe ceased for_the three weeks before_the examination, and_his landlady pointed out that she really could_not supply so_much lamp oil at_the price . he walked to and fro from_the college with little slips of mnemonics in_his hand, lists of crayfish appendages, rabbits' skull-bones, and vertebrate nerves, for example, and became a positive nuisance to foot passengers in_the opposite direction .

but, by a natural reaction, poetry and_the girl with_the brown eyes ruled the Christmas holiday . the pending results of_the examination became such a secondary consideration that hill marvelled at his father's excitement . even had he_wished it, there_was no comparative anatomy to read in Landport, and he_was too poor to_buy books, but the stock of poets in_the library was extensive, and hill's attack was magnificently sustained . he saturated himself with_the fluent numbers of Longfellow and Tennyson, and fortified himself with Shakespeare; found a kindred soul in Pope, and a master in Shelley, and heard and fled the siren voices of Eliza Cook and Mrs Hemans . but he read no more Browning, because he hoped for_the loan of other volumes from miss Haysman when he returned to London .

he walked from_his lodgings to_the college with_that volume of Browning in_his shiny black bag, and_his mind teeming with_the finest general propositions about poetry . indeed, he framed first this little speech and then that with_which to grace the return . the morning was an exceptionally pleasant one for London; there_was a clear, hard frost and undeniable blue in_the sky, a thin haze softened every outline, and warm shafts of sunlight struck between_the house blocks and turned the sunny side of_the street to amber and gold . in_the hall of_the college he pulled off his glove and signed his name with fingers so stiff with cold that_the characteristic dash under the signature he cultivated became aquivering line . he imagined miss Haysman about him everywhere . he turned at_the staircase, and there, below, he_saw a crowd struggling at_the foot of_the notice- board . this, possibly, was_the biology list . he forgot Browning and miss Haysman for_the moment, and joined the scrimmage . and at last, with_his cheek flattened against the sleeve of_the man on_the step above him, he read the list--

class I H .J .Somers Wedderburn William hill

and thereafter followed a second class that_is outside our present sympathies . it_was characteristic that he_did_not trouble to look for Thorpe on_the physics list, but backed out_of_the struggle at once, and in a curious emotional state between pride over common second- class humanity and acute disappointment at Wedderburn's success, went on_his way upstairs . at_the top, as he_was hanging up his coat in_the passage, the zoological demonstrator, a young man from Oxford, who secretly regarded him as ablatant "mugger" of_the very worst type, offered his heartiest congratulations .

at_the laboratory door hill stopped for a second to_get his breath, and then entered . he looked straight up the laboratory and saw all five girl students grouped in their places, and Wedderburn, the once retiring Wedderburn, leaning rather gracefully against the window, playing with_the blind tassel and talking, apparently, to_the five of_them . now, hill could talk bravely enough and even overbearingly to one girl, and he could_have made a speech to a roomful of girls, but this business of standing at ease and appreciating, fencing, and returning quick remarks round a group was, he_knew, altogether beyond him .Coming up the staircase his feelings for Wedderburn had_been generous, a certain admiration perhaps, a willingness to shake his hand conspicuously and heartily as one who had fought but the first round . but before Christmas Wedderburn had never gone up to_that end of_the room to_talk . in a flash hill's mist of vague excitement condensed abruptly to a vivid dislike of Wedderburn . possibly his expression changed . as he_came up to_his place, Wedderburn nodded carelessly to him, and_the others glanced round . miss Haysman looked at him and away again, the faintest touch of her eyes ." I_can't agree with_you, Mr Wedderburn," she said .

" I_must congratulate you on_your first- class, Mr hill," said the spectacled girl in green, turning round and beaming at him .

" it's nothing," said hill, staring at Wedderburn and miss Haysman talking together, and eager to hear what they talked about .

" we poor folks in_the second class don't think so," said the girl in spectacles .

what_was it Wedderburn was saying ? something about William Morris ! hill did_not answer the girl in spectacles, and_the smile died out of_his face . he_could_not hear, and failed to_see how he_could " cut in ." confound Wedderburn ! he sat down, opened his bag, hesitated whether to return the volume of Browning forthwith, in_the sight of all, and instead drew out his new notebooks for_the short course in elementary botany that was now beginning, and which would terminate in February . as he_did so, a fat, heavy man, with a white face and pale grey eyes--Bindon, the professor of botany, who came up from Kew for January and February-- came in by_the lecture theatre door, and passed, rubbing his hands together and smiling, in silent affability down the laboratory .

* * * * *

in_the subsequent six weeks hill experienced some very rapid and curiously complex emotional developments . for_the most part he had Wedderburn in focus--a fact that miss Haysman never suspected . she told hill ( for in_the comparative privacy of_the museum she talked a good_deal to him of socialism and Browning and general propositions) that she had met Wedderburn at_the house of some people she knew, and " he's inherited his cleverness; for_his father, you_know, is_the great eye- specialist ."

"_My father is acobbler," said hill, quite irrelevantly, and perceived the want of dignity even as he_said it . but the gleam of jealousy did_not offend her . she conceived herself the fundamental source of it . he suffered bitterly from a sense of Wedderburn's unfairness, and arealisation of_his own handicap . here was_this Wedderburn had picked up a prominent man for a father, and instead of_his losing so_many marks on_the score of_that advantage, it_was counted to him for righteousness ! and while hill had to introduce himself and talk to miss Haysman clumsily over mangled guinea-pigs in_the laboratory, this Wedderburn, in some backstairs way, had access to her social altitudes, and could converse in a polished argot that hill understood perhaps, but felt incapable of speaking . not, of_course, that he_wanted to . then it seemed to hill that for Wedderburn to_come there day after day with cuffs unfrayed, neatly tailored, precisely barbered, quietly perfect, was in itself an ill- bred, sneering sort of proceeding . moreover, it_was astealthy thing for Wedderburn to behave insignificantly for a space, to mock modesty, to lead hill to fancy that he himself was beyond dispute the man of_the year, and then suddenly to dart in front of him, and incontinently to swell up in_this fashion . in_addition to_these things, Wedderburn displayed an increasing disposition to join in any conversational grouping that included miss Haysman, and would venture, and indeed seek occasion, to_pass opinions derogatory to socialism and atheism . he goaded hill to incivilities by neat, shallow, and exceedingly effective personalities about_the socialist leaders, until hill hated Bernard shaw's graceful egotisms, William Morris's limited editions and luxurious wall-papers, and Walter crane's charmingly absurd ideal working men, about as_much as he hated Wedderburn . the dissertations in_the laboratory, that had_been his glory in_the previous term, became a danger, degenerated into inglorious tussels with Wedderburn, and hill kept to_them only out of an obscure perception that his honour was involved . in_the debating society hill knew quite clearly that, to a thunderous accompaniment of banged desks, he could_have pulverised Wedderburn . only Wedderburn never attended the debating society to_be pulverised, because-- nauseous affectation ! -- he " dined late ."

you_must not imagine that_these things presented themselves in quite such a crude form to hill's perception . hill was a born generaliser .Wedderburn to him was not so_much an individual obstacle as a type, the salient angle of a class . the economic theories that, after infinite ferment, had shaped themselves in hill's mind, became abruptly concrete at_the contact . the world became full of easy- mannered, graceful, gracefully- dressed, conversationally dexterous, finally shallow Wedderburns, Bishops Wedderburn, Wedderburn M .P .'s, Professors Wedderburn, Wedderburn landlords, all with finger- bowl shibboleths and epigrammatic cities of refuge from a sturdy debater . and everyone ill- clothed or ill- dressed, from_the cobbler to_the cab- runner, was a man and a brother, a fellow- sufferer, to hill's imagination . so_that he became, as it were, a champion of_the fallen and oppressed, albeit to outward seeming only a self- assertive, ill- mannered young man, and an unsuccessful champion at_that . again and again a skirmish over the afternoon tea that_the girl students had inaugurated left hill with flushed cheeks and a tattered temper, and_the debating society noticed a new quality of sarcastic bitterness in_his speeches .

you_will understand now how it_was necessary, if only in_the interests of humanity, that hill should demolish Wedderburn in_the forthcoming examination and outshine him in_the eyes of miss Haysman; and you_will perceive, too, how miss Haysman fell into some common feminine misconceptions . the hill-Wedderburn quarrel, for in_his unostentatious way Wedderburn reciprocated hill's ill- veiled rivalry, became a tribute to her indefinable charm; she was_the queen of beauty in a tournament of scalpels and stumpy pencils . to her confidential friend's secret annoyance, it even troubled her conscience, for she was a good girl, and painfully aware, from Ruskin and contemporary fiction, how entirely men's activities are determined by women's attitudes . and if hill never by any chance mentioned the topic of love to her, she only credited him with_the finer modesty for_that omission . so the time came on for_the second examination, and hill's increasing pallor confirmed the general rumour that he_was working hard . in_the aerated bread shop near south Kensington station you_would see him, breaking his bun and sipping his milk, with_his eyes intent upon a paper of closely written notes . in_his bedroom there were propositions about buds and stems round his looking- glass, a diagram to catch his eye, if soap should chance to spare it, above his washing basin . he missed several meetings of_the debating society, but he_found the chance encounters with miss Haysman in_the spacious ways of_the adjacent art museum, or in_the little museum at_the top of_the college, or in_the college corridors, more frequent and very restful . in_particular, they used to meet in a little gallery full of wrought- iron chests and gates, near the art library, and there hill used to_talk, under the gentle stimulus of her flattering attention, of Browning and_his personal ambitions .a characteristic she found remarkable in him was his freedom from avarice . he contemplated quite calmly the prospect of living all his life on an income below a hundred pounds a year . but he_was determined to_be famous, to_make, recognisably in_his own proper person, the world a better place to live in . he_took Bradlaugh and John Burns for_his leaders and models, poor, even impecunious, great men . but miss Haysman thought that such lives were deficient on_the aesthetic side, by_which, though she did_not know it, she meant good wall- paper and upholstery, pretty books, tasteful clothes, concerts, and meals nicely cooked and respectfully served .

at last came the day of_the second examination, and_the professor of botany, a fussy, conscientious man, rearranged all the tables in a long narrow laboratory to_prevent copying, and put his demonstrator on a chair on a table ( where he_felt, he_said, like aHindoo god), to_see all the cheating, and stuck a notice outside the door, " door closed," for no earthly reason that any human being could discover . and all the morning from ten till one the quill of Wedderburn shrieked Defiance at hill's, and_the quills of_the others chased their leaders in a tireless pack, and so also it_was in_the afternoon .Wedderburn was a little quieter than usual, and hill's face was hot all day, and_his overcoat bulged with textbooks and notebooks against the last moment's revision . and_the next_day, in_the morning and in_the afternoon, was_the practical examination, when sections had to_be cut and slides identified . in_the morning hill was depressed because he_knew he had cut a

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