H.E. Bates Companion

A comic sketch about two lads for whom "everything was boring...It was part of the curse of extreme youth that there was nothing to do. They longed to be men. It was only in boyhood that life was pointless." The older boy has the "stupendous notion" to spy on a local lunatic. The tale relates their wild speculations, their suspense and fear, and the stories they concoct after their adventure. In Lovat Dickson's Magazine (November 1934, iii:5:pp. 568-576).