"I certainly hold with Trade Unionism."
"The Trade Unions aren't wot they were. Oh no! Swelled 'ead too big for their boots and all that."
Martin made no answer and, while Galer rambled on, he saw that the only policy was to declare himself a revolutionary and have done with it. Of course Galer would despise him: but he might cease to argue.
The crisis came at lunch-time two days later.
"By the way, sir," said Galer, bread in hand, "are you 'aving a paper?"
"Yes, I start to-morrow. Daily Herald and Manchester Guardian."
Galer sniffed, threw down the food, and left the room in silence.
II
If Baedeker treated of Oxford colleges as he treats of Continental hotels the visitor would probably be informed that King's is 'well spoken of.' King's is small and comfortable but plainly in the first grade. No taint of specialism mars its charming mediocrity. It is not, like Balliol, aggressively successful, cornering the university scholarships and claiming half the important people in Europe as its alumni, nor does it, like New College, combine a gentle attachment to the humaner letters with supremacy on the river. It does not aspire to royalty or rugger Blues. Most class lists contain one or two firsts from King's and the King's eight never falls from the top division. The college has two excellent quads, a garden, a pleasing chapel, and some astonishing beer. Its port, however, is the worst in Oxford.