The Adventure of Hegel Junior

Fiction ~ short story
Published in (probably) the Christmas Number of The Illustrated London News, 21st November (or 21st December) 1901
Approx. 3,700 words
(First read 26/12/1994)

'Hegel' ~ so nicknamed because he's a 'philosopher' ~ is one of a trio of Edwardian loafers who go on a golfing holiday to Ireland.  One day he sets off walking along the cliffs to go and visit a young lady he's got his eye on.  He gets caught in a storm and has a near-death experience.  That's it, in a nutshell.  Obviously one doesn't generally embark on a Benson short story anticipating that anything profound will happen, and sure enough the business of having a young hero with a philosophical bent turns out to be pretty much a red herring: nothing profound happens ~ or is said ~ and the story ends on the usual trivial note.  Collected in Fine Feathers and Other Stories (1994), for those with the patience.