I  shudder  to  think  how  much  of  my  knowledge  of  life  I
owe  to  this  Jiauny,  whose  stories  would  have  filled  a  quarto
volume,  but  could  on  no  account  have  been  published ;  for
a  self-respecting  post-office  would  not  have  allowed  them  to '
pass  through  the  mails.  As  it  was,  Jimmy  gave  them  cir-
culation enough.  I  can  still  see  his  round  face,  with  the  nose
just  indicated,  his  wicked,  twinkling  little  eyes,  and  I  can
hear  his  husky  voice  fall  to  a  whisper  when  "the  boss"  passed
through  the  store.  Jimmy,  when  visituig  us,  always  had  a
group  around  him.  His  audacity  with  women  amazed  me,
for  he  never  passed  one  of  the  "lady  clerks"  without  some
form  of  caress,  which  they  resented  but  invariably  laughed


66  A  FAR  COUNTRY

at.  One  day  he  imparted  to  me  his  code  of  morality :  he
never  made  love  to  another  man's  wife,  so  he  assured  me,  if
he  knew  the  man !  The  secret  of  life  he  had  discovered  in
laughter,  and  by  laughter  he  sold  quantities  of  Cousin
Robert's  groceries.
Mr.  Bowles  boasted  of  a  catholic  acquaintance  in  all  the
cities  of  his  district,  but  before  venturing  forth  to  conquer
these  he  had  learned  his  own  city  by  heart.  My  Cousin
Robert  was  not  aware  of  the  fact  that  Mr.  Bowles  "showed"
the  town  to  certain  customers.  He  even  desired  to  show  it  to
me,  but  an  epicurean  strain  in  my  nature  held  me  back.
Johnny  Hedges  went  with  him  occasionally,  and  Henry
Schneider,  the  bill  clerk,  and  I  listened  eagerly  to  their  expe-
riences, afterwards  confiding  them  to  Tom.  .  ..
