He told me a story of how, when he was calling upon her, she begged him to ring the bell for something or other, and he was so slow in getting up that she went and rang it herself.

'Her own fault,' he said; 'she asked me to sit on a chair with a seat some six inches above the ground, and how can a man hurry up from a thing of that sort ?'" "He must be a strange man.

Of course he doesn't care anything about Miss Birching." "But I think he does, in his way." "How did he ever get on at all in business ?" "Oh, he's one of the lucky men." Hilliard replied, with a touch of good-natured bitterness.

"He never exerted himself; good things fell into his mouth.

People got to like him--that's one explanation, no doubt." "Don't you think he may have more energy than you imagine ?" "It's possible.