The Rambles of an Idler 



"here is real bird's-eye maple"; or "cherry 

 trees are not old enough now to have wood like 

 this, red as blood;" or "here's cedar that is 

 cedar, not faded yet and sweet smelling." 

 More or less of all this would he say in a most 

 impressive manner; and less often, he would 

 lay down his saw or plane and seating himself 

 in a chair I have long coveted, throw his arms 

 back to support his head and exclaim with great 

 animation, 



"Wood, like wine, improves with age, if 

 properly cared for and what , strange stories 

 these old things could tell, desk or chair, that 

 is, if they could only — ," then glancing at the 

 little clock, he would start up, saying, "Phew! 

 I've no time to waste." 



David Pickup is not an extraordinary man, 

 but his remarks are always timely and that is 

 being next door to a philosopher. He is not 

 original, but then, the world has not had a 

 brand new set of ideas in a thousand years, and 

 as far back as that plagiarism was not uncom- 

 mon, David makes excellent use of the old set 

 phrases ; better use than does the crowd as you 

 meet it. At least, he never speaks an unneces- 

 sary word and when my visit ends, I find I can 



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