William Crary Brownell 



ing so, and always amusedly played 

 the game with you. Part of his 

 genius, to which all of his friends 

 testify, for friendship (which has been 

 defined as rien que s entendre) re- 

 sided in this alertness, in virtue of 

 which he "always understood." Of- 

 ten before you had completed your 

 communication — a demi-mot — he had 

 been there — everywhere — before; but 

 he was none the less alive to the 

 nuances of your report of the coun- 

 try. He simply could not be bored. 

 His faculties were in a constant 

 state of functioning and one excuse 

 seemed as good as another for their 

 exercise. He saw "good in every- 

 thing " when it was kind to see it, but 

 his acuteness preserved him from il- 

 lusions. Such as he had he cherished, 

 rather wittingly, one guesses, and they 

 were the mirage of his fancy, which 

 was prodigious, and never due to 

 defective vision. 



217 



