The horn eye-glass was exchanged for one of
purest gold, the dingy high-lows for well-waxed Wellingtons, the Paisley
fogle for the fabric of the China loom. Moreover, he walked with a
swagger, and affected in common conversation a peculiar dialect which
he opined to be the purest English, but which no one--except a
bagman--could be reasonably expected to understand. His pockets were
invariably crammed with sharelists; and he quoted, if he did not
comprehend, the money article from the "Times." This sort of assumption,
though very ludicrous in itself, goes down wonderfully. Bob gradually
became a sort of authority, and his opinions got quoted on 'Change. He
was no ass, notwithstanding his peculiarities, and made good use of his
opportunity.
For myself, I bore my new dignities with an air of modest meekness. A
certain degree of starchness is indispensable for a railway director, if
he means to go forward in his high calling and prosper; he must abandon
all juvenile eccentricities, and aim at the appearance of a decided
enemy to free trade in the article of Wild Oats. Accordingly, as the
first step toward respectability, I eschewed coloured waistcoats and
gave out that I was a marrying man.
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