at large about the country

"I was not alluding to you in particular. I was referring to theprinciple of the thing. A boy ought to be playing cricket with otherboys, not wandering at large about the country, probably smoking andgoing into low public-houses.""A very wild lot, sir, I fear, the Archaeological Society here,"sighed Psmith, shaking his head. 　　"If you choose to waste your time, I suppose I can't hinder you. Butin my opinion it is foolery, nothing else."He stumped off. 　　"Now _he's_ cross," said Psmith, looking after him. "I'm afraidwe're getting ourselves disliked here.""Good job, too.""At any rate, Comrade Outwood loves us. Let's go on and see what sortof a lunch that large-hearted fossil-fancier is going to give us." Chapter 37 Mike Finds Occupation There was more than one moment during the first fortnight of term whenMike found himself regretting the attitude he had imposed upon himselfwith regard to Sedleighan cricket. He began to realise the eternaltruth of the proverb about half a loaf and no bread. In the firstflush of his resentment against his new surroundings he had refused toplay cricket. And now he positively ached for a game. Any sort of agame. An innings for a Kindergarten _v._ the Second Eleven of aHome of Rest for Centenarians would have soothed him. There weretimes, when the sun shone, and he caught sight of white flannels on agreen ground, and heard the "plonk" of bat striking ball, when he feltlike rushing to Adair and shouting, "I _will_ be good. I was inthe Wrykyn team three years, and had an average of over fifty the lasttwo seasons. Lead me to the nearest net, and let me feel a bat in myhands again."But every time he shrank from such a climb down. It couldn't be done. 　　What made it worse was that he saw, after watching behind the netsonce or twice, that Sedleigh cricket was not the childish burlesque ofthe game which he had been rash enough to assume that it must be. 　　Numbers do not make good cricket. They only make the presence of goodcricketers more likely, by the law of averages. 　　Mike soon saw that cricket was by no means an unknown art at Sedleigh.