"We'll let Milton alone, then. You seem to know everything to be known about him. How are you on Swift, Addison and that crowd? They always give you three or four questions about them."
"I've got to read over what that book says on that period. I am not very sure whether Swift or Defoe wrote the 'Tatler,' and those other things—they're all mixed up in my mind, anyway."
"How about Shakspeare?"
"Oh, yes. No one knows when he was born or died, what he did, or whether he wrote his plays or not."
"You'll get in trouble if you say that. I don't believe you will get any question about him. Here's Jane Austen."
"She was the woman that was married three or four times, and ought to have been two or three other times, wasn't she?"
"No; you've mixed her with someone else. You ought to be able to discuss her style, and compare it with Charlotte Bronte's. They're dippy about Jane out there, so be sure and read her up. And don't fail to express great admiration for Spenser, if you get a chance."
"Was he the fellow who said we were all descended from monkeys?"
"No, no. What are you talking about? He was a poet—time of Shakspeare, or about then. You ought to read some of him. Read some of 'The Shepherd's Calendar' and quote from it. You'll hate it, but it will work a great swipe with the examiner."