"'Not so much, Sir, as you would suppose,' sais I.

"'Why how so?' sais he.

"'Why,' sais I, 'the first time a man goes round the
world, he is plaguy skeered for fear of fallin' off the
edge; the second time he gets used to it, and larns a
good deal.'

"'Fallin' off the edge!' sais he; 'what an original idea
that is. That's one of your best. I like your works for
that they are original. We have nothin' but imitations
now. Fallin' off the the edge, that's capital. I must
tell Peel that; for he is very fond of that sort of
thing.'

"He was a very pretty spoken man, was Mr. Tact; he is
quite the gentleman, that's a fact. I love to hear him
talk; he is so very perlite, and seems to take a likin'
to me parsonally."

Few men are so open to flattery as Mr. Slick; and although
"soft sawder" is one of the artifices he constantly uses
in his intercourse with others, he is often thrown off
of his guard by it himself. How much easier it is to
discover the weaknesses of others than to see our own!

But to resume the story.

"'You have been a good deal in the colonies, haven't