JOHN 129 



Sometimes his opinions were slenderly re- 

 lated to fact, but never were they bor- 

 rowed. A notion his very own he had of 

 every teacher, every student, and every 

 important thing that touched his daily 

 life. Extremely noticeable was this inde- 

 pendence when he accepted money, or a 

 gift of any sort. Once, in Germany, I 

 gave a mark to a prosperous tailor, and 

 he smiled and bowed and gesticulated 

 until I was almost prone to think that 

 unwittingly I had saved his lif e. No touch 

 of such servility was in John's nature. He 

 was quick to manifest gratitude; but he 

 had a manner of closing the whole trans- 

 action by looking up and away over the 

 treetops, as if he had an understanding 

 with the sky, that only accidentally was he 

 a recipient. 



John was not a typical servant. Not 

 that he was unfaithful (he was the full 

 opposite of that), but he required an 

 ample margin of liberty. He could not be 

 driven; he hated to be urged, and no die- 



