The one thing I can't stand is to feel that I
am looked down upon. That makes a madman of me.'
He drank, and struck a match to relight his pipe.
'One Saturday afternoon I went to an exhibition in Coventry Street. The
pictures were for sale, and admission was free. I have always been fond of
water-colours; at that time it was one of my ambitions to possess a really
good bit of landscape in water-colour but, of course, I knew that the
prices were beyond me. Well, I walked through the gallery, and there was
one thing that caught my fancy; I kept going back to it again and again. It
was a bit of sea-coast by Ewart Merry,--do you know him? He died years ago;
his pictures fetch a fairly good price now. As I was looking at it, the
fellow who managed the show came up with a man and woman to talk about
another picture near me; he tried his hardest to persuade them to buy, but
they wouldn't, and I dare say it disturbed his temper. Seeing him stand
there alone, I stepped up to him, and asked the price of the water-colour.
He just gave a look at me, and said, "Too much money for you."
'Now, you must remember that I was in my best clothes, and I certainly
didn't look like a penniless clerk.
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