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[Page 136]
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From 1 Jan., 1911, Dene was appointed Principal Cadet, and from 1 July, 1911, Junior Assistant.
In 1910 or 1911, he joined the Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union (Melbourne). and in June, 1913 joined the Linnean Society of N.SW.
But, looking ahead into the future, Dene thought his prospects would never be very good unless he had a degree in science, he heard what others had to say and turned the thing over in his mind carefully, and the more he thought the more convinced he became. It was a very serious question with him, for it meant the loss of his salary of £110, as he could not while employed at the Museum study and attend lectures during the day, and there were no evening lectures in science at the time. But he burned his boats, sent in his resignation, and left the Museum at the end of 1913.
He had a hard time. During his last years at school, Dene had made but indifferent progress, his knowledge of both English and Latin being inconsiderable. And solitary study, years after leaving school is very different from what can be done at school with a helpful environment. He faced it manfully : in June, 1914, he passed the Junior Examination in 4 subjects, and in November he passed the Senior in 4 subjects, just sufficient to scrape through, but he won honours in free-hand drawing, and the silver medal for zoology.
He was encouraged by being appointed Demonstrator in Zoology early in 1915, but as the war went on, there came to him the irresistible call. His younger brother Alan had gone months earlier, and he felt he could for the sake of his manhood do no other than follow him. He consulted both his parents. I was raking dry leaves along the boundary fence to make a firebreak, when he came along and said, "I suppose mother has told you, father?" I said, yes, that you want to go to the War. I told him that one brother out of two fairly represented the family, and that, apart from the risk of his life, the break in his studies would be such that he might never be able to get through the University, which was so important to his future career. "Have you considered everything, Dene?"