He appeared at the club at
nine-thirty, after most of its married members had departed for their
homes and only a few of the younger set and one or two bachelors, like
Mr. Hammond, remained, and announced that he was going to "blow the
crowd." The crowd was quite willing to be blown and said so.
Mr. Hammond ate three sandwiches and two plates of ice cream, also he
smoked two cigars. He did not really feel the need of the second cream
or the second cigar, but, as they were furnished without cost to him, he
took them as a matter of principle. Hence the indigestion.
The "grouch" was due partially to the unwonted dissipation and its
consequences and partly to the fact that his winter "flannels" had not
been returned by Mrs. Melinda Pease, to whom they had been consigned for
mending and overhauling.
It was the tenth of November and for a period of twenty-four years, ever
since his recovery from a severe attack of rheumatic fever, Caleb had
made it a point to lay aside his summer underwear on the morning of
November tenth and don a heavy suit. Weather, cold or warm, was not
supposed to have any bearing on this change. The ninth might be as
frigid as a Greenland twilight and the tenth as balmy as a Florida
noon--no matter; on the ninth Mr. Hammond wore light underwear and
shivered; on the tenth he wore his "flannels" and perspired. It was
another of his principles, and Caleb had a deserved reputation for
adhering to principle and being "sot" in his ways.
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