the Arcadia through a
clay is to incur my contempt, and even my resentment. But to disbelieve
in clays is one thing and to treat them badly is another. If the man
through the wall has decided, after reflection and experiment, that his
clay is a mistake, I say let him smoke it no more; but so long as he
does smoke it I would have it receive consideration from him. I very
much question whether, if he reads his heart, he could learn from
it that he loves his meerschaum more than his clay, yet because the
meerschaum cost more he taps it on his palm. This is a serious charge
to bring against any man, but I do not make it lightly.

The man through the wall smokes each of these three pipes nightly,
beginning with the brier. Thus he does not like a hot pipe. Some will
hold that he ought to finish with the brier, as it is his favorite, but
I am not of that opinion. Undoubtedly, I think, the first pipe is the
sweetest; indeed, I feel bound to make a statement here. I have an
uneasy feeling that I never did justice to meerschaums, and for this
reason: I only smoked them after my brier was hot, so that I never gave
them a fair chance. If I had begun the day with a meerschaum, might it
not have shown itself in a new light? That is a point I shall never be
able to decide now, but I often think of it, and I leave the verdict
to others.

[Illustration]

Even though I did not know that the man through the wall must retire at
half-past twelve, his taps at that hour would announce it. He then gives
each of his pipes a final tap, not briskly as before, but slowly, as if
he was thinking between each tap. I have sometimes decided to send him a
tin of the only tobacco to smoke, but on the whole I could not undertake
the responsibility of giving a man whom I have only studied for a few
months such a testimonial. Therefore when his last tap says good-night
to me, I take my cold brier out of my mouth, tap it on the mantelpiece,
smile sadly, and go to bed.

[Illustration]

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