6 EASY-CHAIR MEMORIES 



shudder. Of course, she could not have 

 known what she was saying, the words came 

 so glibly from her little lips; she must have 

 been carefully and regularly taught them by 

 her disreputable parents. 1 Nothing worse 

 could possibly have been said, or said with 

 more dramatic effect, in any slum of the great 

 cities. In two days I have already learnt that 

 within a mile of my peaceful Arcadia the devil 

 has got a sure grip ; the demon of drink is at 

 the bottom of it all. Human nature, left to 

 itself, is just as rampantly wicked in the peace- 

 ful country as in the slums of a town. 



Last night and this morning the rain came 

 down in torrents, but this afternoon and even- 

 ing the sun shone brightly, and the scene from 

 my alcove is glorious beyond my power of 

 description. My first inquiry was about the 

 fishing, for although I am now too old to care 

 about undergoing any great fatigue or exertion, 

 yet the old passion survives. I met with a jolly 

 old gentleman, who, although he is no fisher- 



1 I am reminded by my son of an old reprobate, who 

 had been giving a sample of his bad language in the 

 presence of a clergyman, who asked him where he learned 

 such horrible profanity. "Learned it!" said the old 

 rip, " why, it's a gift ! " 



