and started
straight away.

* * * * *

"He was a Jefferson man, this man I'm going to tell you of," he begun.
"He was born in the town, and for forty-seven years he never slept a
night outside it. He was a most respectable man--a drysalter from nine
to four, and a Presbyterian in his leisure moments. He said that a good
life merely meant good habits. He rose at seven, had family prayer at
seven-thirty, breakfasted at eight, got to his business at nine, had his
horse brought round to the office at four, and rode for an hour, reached
home at five, had a bath and a cup of tea, played with and read to the
children (he was a domesticated man) till half-past six, dressed and
dined at seven, went round to the club and played whist till quarter
after ten, home again to evening prayer at ten-thirty, and bed at eleven.
For five-and-twenty years he lived that life with never a variation. It
worked into his system and became mechanical. The church clocks were set
by him. He was used by the local astronomers to check the sun.

"One day a distant connection of his in London, an East Indian Merchant
and an ex-Lord Mayor died, leaving him sole legatee and executor. The
business was a complicated one and needed management. He determined to
leave his son by his first wife, now a young man of twenty-four, in
charge at Jefferson, and to establish himself with his second family in
England, and look after the East Indian business.

"He set out from Jefferson City on October the fourth, and arrived in
London on the seventeenth. He had been ill during the whole of the
voyage, and he reached the furnished house he had hired in Bayswater
somewhat of a wreck. A couple of days in bed, however, pulled him round,
and on the Wednesday evening he announced his intention of going into the
City the next day to see to his affairs.

"On the Thursday morning he awoke at one o'clock. His wife told him she
had not disturbed him, thinking the sleep would do him good. He admitted
that perhaps it had. Anyhow, he felt very well, and he got up and
dressed himself. He said he did not like the idea of beginning his first
day by neglecting a religious duty, and his wife agreeing with him, they
assembled the servants and the children in the dining-room, and had
family prayer at half-past one. After which he breakfasted and set off,
reaching the City about three.

"His reputation for punctuality had preceded him, and surprise was
everywhere expre