IN A FISHING COUNTRY 



the quality of the phrase; also, I judged 

 him representative of his day and calling. 

 He made revelation to us of certain rules 

 of conduct from which nothing would per- 

 suade him to depart. When about to en- 

 gage upon a really big deal, not 'for a 

 thousand dollars' would he draw on his left 

 sock first. Furthermore, if through haste 

 or fumbling his underclothing became 

 fastened crookedly, so must it remain, — 

 even had he to endure all day the incon- 

 venient pressure on his stomach (saving 

 your presence) of the misplaced button. 

 Neglect of these precautions would, he 

 was persuaded, ruin any negotiation; ob- 

 servance of them had constantly brought 

 him rich reward. They were the tap-root 

 of a personal success so great that all his 

 modesty failed to conceal it from us. He 

 lavished proof in chapters and verses. 

 About the button he came near to a distress- 

 ing realism. Perhaps he has a following 

 in this cult; certainly had he insisted upon 

 the imprudence of walking under a ladder, 

 failing to touch wood, or paring one's nails 

 on a Friday, not a few men of sense would 

 have been found to agree with him. 



One can only indulge the hope that 

 the reader, by a powerful effort of memory, 

 138 



