"When the Turks had pulled those ships up the skids to the top of the hill--well, gentlemen, the boys all hopped on and rode down to the bay". The Vagabond muses on basking with delight in his chair, waiting for the deceptive cadences at the end of Professor Langer's sentences. It must have been fun taking Constantinople, even if everyone in those days had to carry musty spices of the East to quell his nausea. It is such little remarks that the Vagabond remembers from all these many, many lectures; surely such a one was worth the three flights up to Sever 30 at 9 of a cold Tuesday morning. But the enchantment dies as the bell rings. History 19 folds its tents for the day and departs.

Now back in the Tower before a warm fire the Vagabond pores over the travels of that wily Spanish knight, Pero Tafur, who saw the corruption and all the false show of Byzantium eighteen years before it was taken. It was not the glittering, splendid luxury which dazzled the minds of the West.

But quick! it is already 12, Down the spiral and by the Chapel to Harvard Hall. Russia is getting a jump on the world. Look at your globe. It is shorter to fly over the North Pole from Moscow to San Francisco than to follow the old paths. In June a Soviet plane will try that route. Grim, nevertheless Stalin is raising a hubbub among the international lawyers the world over; for what does the Soviet Government do but claim even the pack ice all the way to the North Pole! Ah, the bit in the teeth; the jump at the starting post in the race for the Arctic! For pack ice is good for radio stations and even landing fields. What a merry mess for the lawyers! If an iceberg with a radio station breaks away and drifts down to Alaska, will "the constitution follow the flag?" The Vagabond chuckles in secret glee. Professor Hopper buttons up his coat again and waves his hand airily. Government 30 has its first laugh of the day. Russia, planning, famine, struggle--but enough. Back to the Tower to mull the wine and dip the croissants.