CHAPTER THREE.
Sub-Chapter I.
THE POETRY CLUB.
During one of my terms at G-- (and in speaking of that famous old school it is quite unnecessary to mention more than the first letter of its name) a serious epidemic broke out.

It affected chiefly the lower half of the upper school, and during the brief period of its duration it assumed so malignant a type that it is still a marvel to me how any one of its victims ever survived it.

The medical and other authorities were utterly incompetent to deal with it.

In fact--incredible as it may seem--they deliberately ignored its existence, and left the sufferers to pull through as and how they could.

Had it been an ordinary outbreak, as, for instance, scarlatina or diphtheria, or even measles, they would have cleared the school between two "call-overs," and had us all either in the infirmary or in four-wheelers at our parents' doors.