"It is all right when I have once started," he
said, "but for days before I am the prey of all kinds of
apprehensions." "What sort of apprehensions?" I said. He laughed,
and replied, "Well, it is almost too absurd to mention, but I find
myself oppressed with anxiety for weeks beforehand as to whether,
when we get to Calais, we shall find places in the train." And I
remember, too, how a woman friend of mine once told me that she
called at the house of an elderly couple in London, people of rank
and wealth. Their daughter met her in the drawing-room and said, "I
am glad you are come--you may be able to cheer my mother up. We are
going down to-morrow to our place in the country; the servants and
the luggage went this morning, and my mother and father are to drive
down this afternoon--my mother is very low about it." "What is the
matter?" said my friend. The daughter replied, "She is afraid that
they will not get there in time!" "In time for what?" said my
friend, thinking that there was some important engagement. "In time
for tea!" said the daughter gravely.
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