The Charm of the Inexact. 211 



appeals to the eye more than to the ear. As 

 written, it is much more artistic than as spoken. 

 We listen to the reading of printed matter with 

 pleasure and profit, but when is conversation 

 akin to this? I trust others have been more 

 fortunate. I have not met a dozen persons who 

 knew thoroughly well how to talk and gave me 

 the feeling of having been fortunate because I 

 had met them. Conversation should be worth 

 the effort of utterance ; but how seldom the 

 outcome warrants the wear and tear of the 

 machinery ! 



There is a ludicrous aspect of this whole 

 question, attached almost exclusively to the con- 

 versation of women, which is perhaps a natural 

 outcome of their inborn disposition to reck- 

 lessness of statement, particularly where some 

 immediate, petty advantage is to be gained, and 

 total lack of heed as to the ultimate conse- 

 quence. It required some months of constant 

 observation, much commingling with woman- 

 kind at popular gatherings, and a deal of listen- 

 ing unobserved when in stores and places of 

 amusement, to determine the curious fact, as 

 asserted by these women, that not one of them 



