And What We Gain 205 



town does the same thing, the waiter who 

 brings me some luncheon gives me his views 

 on the weather, past, present, and future, and 

 as I ride home the conductor, if he finds time, 

 tells me what kind of weather we are having. 

 At the risk of seeming crusty to a degree, I will 

 confess that I care for no man's opinion about 

 the weather, unless it is the government ex- 

 pert's, and not much for his. 



It is assumed that in town one meets with 

 people who have ideas authors, writers, 

 thinkers, men of science, whose words are full 

 of inspiration. Perhaps I have been rather 

 fortunate in meeting with people whose names 

 are heard frequently. Yet I cannot say that 

 the loss of such opportunities as I have en- 

 joyed in this respect ever worries me. Take 

 the authors and the writers, for instance. The 

 man who has time and leisure may occasionally, 

 if he likes that sort of thing, meet the author 

 whose novels are most read at the moment. 

 But it is extremely doubtful whether this 

 gentleman will talk half so well in the drawing- 

 room as he does in his book. These authors 

 are devoting the best part of their lives to 



