nnoy her by an unwelcome
courtship; he wished, in fact, that he had not made a fool of himself
that evening, and wanted things to be as they were before.

In the meantime he occupied himself in looking out for a new engagement
Plenty were to be had, but he aimed at something better than had
satisfied him hitherto. He must get a "permanency"; at his age it was
time he settled into a life of respect able routine. But for his
foolish habit of living from hand to mouth, now in this business, now
in that, indulging his taste for variety, Mrs. Clover would never, he
felt sure, have "put her foot down" in that astonishing way. The best
thing he could do was to show himself in a new light.

Thanks to his good nature, his practicality, and the multitude of his
acquaintances, all manner of shiftless or luckless fellows were in the
habit of looking to him for advice and help. As soon as they found
themselves adrift they turned to Gammon. Every day he had a letter
asking him to find a "berth" or a "billet" for some out-at-elbows
friend, and in a surprising number of cases he was able to make a
useful suggestion. It would have paid him to start an employment
agency; as it was, instead of receiving fees, he very often supplied
his friends' immediate necessities out of his own pocket. The more he
earned the more freely he bestowed, so that his occasional strokes of
luck in commerce were of no ultimate benefit to him. No man in his
Position had a larger credit; for weeks at a time he could live without
cash expenditure; but this was seldom necessary.

By a mental freak which was characteristic of him he nursed the thought
of connecting himself with Messrs. Quodling & Son, oil and colour
merchants. Theirs was a large and sound business, both in town and
country. It might not be easy to become traveller to such a firm, but
his ingenious mind tossed and turned the possibilities of the case, and
after a day or two spent in looking up likely men--which involved a
great deal of drinking in a great variety of public resorts--he came
across an elderly traveller who had represented Quodlings on a northern
circuit, and who boasted a certain acquaintance with Quodling the
senior. Thus were things set in train. At a second meeting with the
venerable bagman--who had a wonderful head for whisky--Gammon acquired
so much technical information that oil and colours might fairly be set
down among his numerous "specialities." Moreover, his friend promis