158 ANGLING SKETCHES 



near the Strand, on the eve of a great book-sale 

 three years before, that we had met, for almost 

 the last time, as I believed, though it is true that 

 we had not spoken on that occasion. It is 

 necessary that I should explain what occurred, 

 or what I and three other credible witnesses 

 believed to have occurred ; for, upon my word, 

 the more I see and hear of human evidence of any 

 event, the less do I regard it as establishing anything 

 better than an excessively probable hypothesis. 



To make a long story as short as may be, I 

 should say that Allen and I had been acquainted 

 when we were undergraduates ; that, when fellows 

 of our respective colleges, our acquaintance had 

 become intimate ; that we had once shared a 

 little bit of fishing on the Test ; and that we were 

 both book-collectors. I was a comparatively sane 

 bibliomaniac, but to Allen the time came when he 

 grudged every penny that he did not spend on 

 rare books, and when he actually gave up his 

 share of the water we used to take together, that 

 his contribution to the rent might . go for rare 

 editions and bindings. After this deplorable 



