OLD JOHN, TIM, & OTHERS 163 



the sake of barking ; but men frequently 

 speak merely for the sake of speaking. 

 Even as the literary style of gentlemen 

 who despise syntax is full of unrelated 

 participles, the colloquial style of others 

 is full of things that have no perceptible 

 connection with reason. 



Of this I had a striking series of illus- 

 trations on returning to Town after a long 

 absence in an almost uninhabited land. 

 In St. James's Street, on my way to the 

 Club, I met a man, and he said, " There's 

 air ! " " Doubtless," I answered, without 

 understanding. My friend was a very 

 well-known artist, none other than Mr. 



C W^ , who, after the exchange of 



a few words on the weather, words of a 

 more definite kind, passed on. Immediately 

 on his going, I met another man, a man 

 for whom I have a very high regard, Mr. 



J A G , head of a department 



in Science and Art at South Kensington, 

 who greeted me with an astonishing 

 statement. " What ho ! she bumps ! " 

 quoth he. Not comprehending, I changed 



