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Young Beck: A Chip of the Old Block
Excerpt from Young Beck: A Chip of the Old Block
They were good - looking chaps enough, smart, black-haired and black-eyed, rather low - sized, but square-shouldered and as agile as monkeys. It was a revelation to see them run and pass to each other at hockey, and at lawn tennis they made a combination that carried all before it. They seemed to have no separate identity; which was Eddie and which was Freddie Bertram only them selves could tell and they kept the secret.
Their doings and sayings were the talk of the college, but somehow, no one could say why, easy mannered as they were and full of life and fun, the Bertram twins were not generally popular.
The twins were at St. John's College and Beck and I at Cam's, and so it happened that we were at Cambridge about a fortnight before we ran across them. We make a very useful double at tennis, and one of the twins, Eddie or Freddie, I don't know which, seeing us play at the top of our form and win our match, challenged us for a fiver a corner. We took them on and were beaten, three sets to two, every game and every set closely fought. I believe either of us could have beaten either of them singly but they were irresistible together.
The match caused a great sensation. It was agreed that Beck and I were to practise together and play them for double stakes in a fortnight's time. But Beck wouldn't play. At first he was keen enough, but after the first week I could not get him to practise, and at the end of the second he backed out. I could see the twins were riled. When I suggested that we should coax Beck to change his mind they curtly refused.
I saw little or nothing of them after that, and my next falling in with them was a bit exciting.
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
They were good - looking chaps enough, smart, black-haired and black-eyed, rather low - sized, but square-shouldered and as agile as monkeys. It was a revelation to see them run and pass to each other at hockey, and at lawn tennis they made a combination that carried all before it. They seemed to have no separate identity; which was Eddie and which was Freddie Bertram only them selves could tell and they kept the secret.
Their doings and sayings were the talk of the college, but somehow, no one could say why, easy mannered as they were and full of life and fun, the Bertram twins were not generally popular.
The twins were at St. John's College and Beck and I at Cam's, and so it happened that we were at Cambridge about a fortnight before we ran across them. We make a very useful double at tennis, and one of the twins, Eddie or Freddie, I don't know which, seeing us play at the top of our form and win our match, challenged us for a fiver a corner. We took them on and were beaten, three sets to two, every game and every set closely fought. I believe either of us could have beaten either of them singly but they were irresistible together.
The match caused a great sensation. It was agreed that Beck and I were to practise together and play them for double stakes in a fortnight's time. But Beck wouldn't play. At first he was keen enough, but after the first week I could not get him to practise, and at the end of the second he backed out. I could see the twins were riled. When I suggested that we should coax Beck to change his mind they curtly refused.
I saw little or nothing of them after that, and my next falling in with them was a bit exciting.
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
359 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1912
2 people want to read
About the author
M. McDonnell Bodkin
61 books12 followersMatthias McDonnell Bodkin was an Irish nationalist politician and MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Anti-Parnellite representative for North Roscommon, 1892–95, a noted author, journalist and newspaper editor, and barrister, King’s Counsel and County Court Judge for County Clare, 1907-24.
Bodkin was a prolific author, in a wide range of genres, including history, novels (contemporary and historical), plays, and political campaigning texts. Bodkin earned a place in the history of the detective novel by virtue of his invention of the first detective family. His most famous character is the detective Paul Beck, who appears in a series of stories and eventually marries another of Bodkin's series characters, Dora Myrl, "Lady Detective".
Bodkin was a prolific author, in a wide range of genres, including history, novels (contemporary and historical), plays, and political campaigning texts. Bodkin earned a place in the history of the detective novel by virtue of his invention of the first detective family. His most famous character is the detective Paul Beck, who appears in a series of stories and eventually marries another of Bodkin's series characters, Dora Myrl, "Lady Detective".
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