patterns. But I confess that she surprised me. Here is one more evidence of her quick apprehension. And I bear witness that she amused me. It was indescribably ludicrous to hear her travesty of Wickham's description of his first fish and how he grassed it. I am sure Chavender blessed himself that he had not yet launched forth. This, of course, put an end to all angling talk, and thereafter we discussed the Drama and other really vital things.
I am sorry that Chavender and Wickham talked shop, because though I, personally, was able to enjoy all that they might have said about fishing, my wife was not, and it is not proper that she should be teased with stuff which does not interest her. Fishermen sometimes forget that all the world is not agog to hear of their exploits. Yet fishermen are not the only offenders.
This power to bore with special conversation is a product of this specialised age. There was, there must have been, a time when, everybody knowing everything that was known, it was impossible for two or more to discuss any matter which was outside the knowledge of a third, fourth, or fifth as the case might be. The cave-parties of the first men can never have suffered from "shop." To-day, however, as it is impossible for anybody to be omniscient, as it becomes more and more
