, when he roused me up by a
surprise morning visit at eight o'clock--I had not returned from a
newspaper office till four o'clock--and carried me off, walking in a
light, springy way which was half a run up to the top of Campden Hill,
to interview the late Sir Harry Parkes.

While many incidents and the general tenor of his conduct show the
natural gentleness of Gordon and his softness of heart, he was a
strict disciplinarian, and even a martinet in some of his ways. As has
been said, he came on duty at eight every morning punctually, but he
would not allow himself to be intruded upon before that hour. Mr
Stannard tells one story that furnishes striking evidence to this
effect. Early in the morning the men were brought to a standstill in
their work until Colonel Gordon arrived to decide some doubtful or
disputed matter. It was noticed that his bedroom window was wide open,
and the contractor's manager was induced to go up and knock at his
door for instructions. Gordon opened his door a little way, and
exclaimed in a testy and irritable tone, "Presently, presently." He
made his regular appearance at eight o'clock, and no one ventured to
again disturb him before the regulation hour.

With regard to his meals he was most abstemious, and at the same time
irregular. His brother describes an arrangement by which he was able
to take, at all events, his midday meal, and at the same time to carry
on his official work, especially in the matter of receiving visitors.
He had a deep drawer in his table, in which the food was deposited.
When anyone came to see him, the drawer was closed, and all signs of a
meal were concealed. At all periods of his career he was a small and
frugal eater, partly because he deprecated extravagance in living, and
partly because he considered that the _angina pectoris_ from which he
thought he suffered could be best coped with by abstention from a
sumptuous or heavy diet. Some days he would almost starve himself, and
then in the night Nature would assert herself, and he would have to
come downstairs and take whatever he found in the larder. It is
recorded that on one occasion he sucked ten or a dozen raw eggs. But
if he denied himself the luxuries and even the necessaries of a decent
table, he possessed the true spirit of hospitality, and never expected
his guests to follow any different practice than their own. For them
he was always at pains to provide dainty fare and good wine. Nor must
undue stress