me upon them for the
first time when the mind is ripe, when the senses are yearning for a new
impression, is indeed a blessing. Short were the sixty miles of our
journey, it seemed to me, but Ging was bored and impatiently he snapped
his watch, and said that we were at least fifteen minutes late. After
having lost all view of the land, how strangely novel was the sight of
the shore, and to fancy myself in a foreign harbor was the most natural
of conceits.

At the wharf we took a carriage and were driven through the town, out by
many a dreamy orchard side, up a bluff-banked river to a large frame
house, high on a hill. Clarm was walking about in the yard, and with an
ease and politeness which I had not expected--having permitted Ging to
influence my preconception of his partner's character--he shook hands
with me and invited me into the house. The sample of mica was closely
inspected, numerous questions were asked, and after a time Mr. Clarm
said that it would be well for Mr. Ging to go home with me. I had kept
in mind the determination to buy a few more acres of land, and I knew
that this might not be an easy transaction if Ging should accompany me,
thereby exciting a suspicion in Parker's mind, so I replied that I was
not going straightway home, being compelled by other business to stop
for a day in Kentucky. "But it is, of course, necessary for Mr. Ging to
see the mine, and he can start the day after I leave and reach Purdy on
the day I arrive," I added.

They agreed to this, as Ging was the principal in another deal that
must be brought to a close; and after declining an invitation to dinner,
I took my leave, feeling that I was a liar, it is true, but I thought
that my deception was not only pardonable, but, indeed, a commendable
piece of fore-sight. I am free to say that a man, in order to protect
his commercial interests, must be an easy and a nimble liar; and I do
not hold that a man who permits himself to be cheated simply that he may
snatch the chance to tell a truth--I say that I could not regard him a
prudent husband or a wise father. Divide the last cent with a friend,
harden not thy heart against the distressed, but in the warfare of
business seek to steal an enemy's advantage. It was with this argument
that I sought to appease my conscience as I strolled about the town, but
more than once I halted, thinking to tell them the truth. But
judgment--permit me to term it judgment--finally influenced me to let
t