Billy Prothero was a sturdy sort of boy, generously wanting in good
looks. His hair was rough, and his complexion muddy, and he walked
about with his hands in his pockets, long flexible lips protruded in
a whistle, and a rather shapeless nose well up to show he didn't
care. Providence had sought to console him by giving him a keen eye
for the absurdity of other people. He had a suggestive tongue, and
he professed and practised cowardice to the scandal of all his
acquaintances. He was said never to wash behind his ears, but this
report wronged him. There had been a time when he did not do so,
but his mother had won him to a promise, and now that operation was
often the sum of his simple hasty toilet. His desire to associate
himself with Benham was so strong that it triumphed over a defensive
reserve. It enabled him to detect accessible moments, do
inobtrusive friendly services, and above all amuse his quarry. He
not only amused Benham, he stimulated him. They came to do quite a
number of things together. In the language of schoolboy stories
they became "inseparables.
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