AtDTdA (9): 240

[Jasper]

240 Lew meets Renfrew at Cambridge (continued)

Page 240:
fen-light
"Slowly, through the impure fen-light, the Professor's face became 
distinct, exhibiting a brightness... no, a denial of ordinary vision... 
a smile that would never break forth from any interior cordiality."

fen-light: Swamp water reflecting moonlight, or -- otherwise -- 
will-o'-the-wisp, /ignes fatui/, "fool's fire", Jack o' lantern, Corpse 
Fire: "the ghostly lights sometimes seen at night or twilight that hover 
over damp ground in still air -- often over bogs. It looks like a 
flickering lamp, and is sometimes said to recede if approached."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_o%27_the_wisp
See especially the Folklore section.

Renfrew first appears -- materializes -- through this fen-light.  Ominous!

See also pp. 410-411, the first appearance (and disappearance) of Alonzo 
Meatman:
"Around the edges of his form, a strange magenta-and-green aura had 
begun to flicker, as if from a source somewhere behind him, growing more 
intense as he himself faded from view, until seconds later nothing was 
left but a kind of stain in the air where he had been, a warping of the 
light as through ancient window-glass."

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"the dense, warm, unaerated product known on this island as beer"
Lew would be used to cold, pasteurized lager brewed by German immigrants 
starting in the mid-19th Century (Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Coors, Stroh, 
Schlitz, Pabst).  English beer is more often a warmer ale, brewed with 
top (rather than bottom) fermenting yeast.  It is more aromatic, 
fruitier, and traditionally unpasteurized.  Stronger ales are often 
served at room temperature.  Personally I like a good stout.

http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/raley_timetable.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_beer
http://www.drinkfocus.com/beer/beer-styles.php

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Worse than Gordon at Khartoum
Refers to Charles George Gordon, British Major-General, whose attempted 
defense of Khartoum versus Arab rebels in 1884-85 ended with his 
beheading. Wikipedia cf. Basil Dearden's 1966 film Khartoum, in which 
the role of Gordon is played by Charlton Heston.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_George_Gordon
*wiki*

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cash on the barrelhead
The expression cash on the barrelhead literally means that cash will be 
laid down on the [makeshift] table, but is always used figuratively to 
mean that the only acceptable transaction will involve cash at the time 
of the transaction.
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19981203

The lexicographer Charles Earle Funk surmised that this term originated 
in the days when upended barrels served as both seats and tables in 
bars, and customers were required to pay for their drinks immediately, 
literally putting their money on the top (head) of a barrel.
http://www.answers.com/topic/cash-on-the-barrelhead

Incidentally, the US equivalent [of the English expression "cash on the 
nail"] is /cash on the barrelhead/ or /cash on the barrel/. Unlike /cash 
on the nail/, this may have had a literal connection, either to the 
barrels used as informal counters in old-time general stores or to 
merchants refusing to hand over a barrel containing goods until it had 
been paid for. But it appears to be surprisingly modern: the earliest 
example I can find is dated 1906.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-cas3.htm

If so (and if you believe that last guy), this is a US phrase dating 
from 1906 uttered by a British professor in ... well, the next section 
takes place in 1902 (the collapse of the Campanile), so...  Is this an 
anachronism, or who cares?