Home Life 



hair and beard, and his spectacles fulfilled my highest ex- 

 pectations. I remember being struck with the kindly look 

 of his eyes, and indeed they did not belie his nature, for he 

 always treated me with great kindness, patience and in- 

 dulgence, which is somewhat remarkable considering my age, 

 and how exasperating I must have been sometimes. I soon 

 began to regard him as a never-failing fount of wisdom, 

 and as one who could answer any question one liked to 

 put to him. Of this latter fact I was not slow to take 

 advantage. I plied him with every kind of question my 

 imaginative young brain could conceive, usually beginning 

 with ' why.' 



" He nearly always gave me an answer, and what is more, 

 a satisfactory one, and well within the scope of my limited 

 understanding. These definite, satisfactory answers of his 

 used to afford me great pleasure, it being quite a new ex- 

 perience for me to have all my questions answered for me in 

 this way. These answers, as I have said, were nearly always 

 forthcoming, though indeed, on one or two occasions, in 

 answer to an especially ridiculous query of mine he would 

 answer, ' That is a very foolish question, Reggie.' But this 

 wa« very rare. 



" I remember taking a great interest in what Dr. Wallace 

 ate. He had a hearty appetite, and was no believer in vege- 

 tarianism, for at lunch his diet consisted chiefly of cold beef, 

 liberally seasoned with various sauces and relishes, also 

 vinegar. I used to gaze at these bottles with great admira- 

 tion. Whenever there were peas he used to take large 

 quantities of sugar with them. This greatly aroused my 

 curiosity, and I questioned him about it. ' Why,' said he, 

 ' peas themselves contain sugar ; it is, therefore, much more 

 sensible to take sugar with them than salt.' And he re- 

 counted an anecdote of how an eminent personage he had 

 once dined with had been waited on with great respect and 

 attention by all present, but salt was offered to him with the 

 peas. ' If you want to make me quite happy,' said the great 

 man, ' you will give me some sugar with my peas.' His 

 favourite drink, I remember, was Canary sack. 



*' He had a strongly humorous side, and always enjoyed a 



125 



