I soon began to regard him as a never-failing fount of
wisdom, and as one who could answer any question one liked to put to
him. Of this latter fact I was not slow to take advantage. I plied him
with every kind of question my imaginative young brain could conceive,
usually beginning with 'why.'
"He nearly always gave me an answer, and what is more, a satisfactory
one, and well within the scope of my limited understanding. These
definite, satisfactory answers of his used to afford me great pleasure,
it being quite a new experience for me to have all my questions answered
for me in this way. These answers, as I have said, were nearly always
forthcoming, though indeed, on one or two occasions, in answer to an
especially ridiculous query of mine he would answer, 'That is a very
foolish question, Reggie.' But this was very rare.
"I remember taking a great interest in what Dr. Wallace ate. He had a
hearty appetite, and was no believer in vegetarianism, for at lunch his
diet consisted chiefly of cold beef, liberally seasoned with various
sauces and relishes, also vinegar. I used to gaze at these bottles with
great admiration. Whenever there were peas he used to take large
quantities of sugar with them. This greatly aroused my curiosity, and I
questioned him about it. 'Why,' said he, 'peas themselves contain sugar;
it is, therefore, much more sensible to take sugar with them than salt.
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