The Crime

It was six o'clock in one of the House dining-rooms. At a long table seven carefree inmates awaited their soup. A respected economist and senior tutor seated himself in the vacant eighth place and also waited. But while the undergraduates were patient, he was clearly uneasy. He looked at his watch and groomed his pencil for singing the yellow slip in record time. But no yellow slip appeared. His face contorted with agony as the minutes passed. Finally, seeing an idle waitress across the room, he snatched up his napkin and rushed to her table. Over his shoulder he explained to his startled companious, "I'm going to see 'Top Hat' tonight; prices change at six-thirty."