" Tick-Tock " Talk 



the early English of northeastern Eng- 

 land, afterwards so thoroughly cor- 

 rupted by Roman and Norman-French 

 influences. I will take oath that I 

 passed one boyhood on the Scottish 

 Border. It must have been somewhere 

 between Coldstream and Melrose, 

 somewhere between Norham's ruined 

 tower and Dryburgh Abbey's crum- 

 bling glories, that I tarried through 

 many a year in some delectable past. 

 Evidently I am now passing through 

 some sort of transition stage, the signif- 

 icance of which I cannot wholly fathom. 

 I know I was not intended to be 

 harnessed and driven; I know that I 

 resent brick walls, office desks, patent 

 leather shoes, frock coats and derby 

 hats. And yet I have passed a good 

 part of this life within four walls of 

 masonry, and am obliged to wear the 

 clothes prescribed by a Michigan 

 Boulevard tailor. I hate the men's 

 wear of this period. I am not sure 

 that I would go to kilts. In fact, I 



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