The important thing is that you should contract "calf love" while you are
young. It is like the measles, which is harmless enough in childhood, but
apt to be dangerous when you are grown up. The "calf love" of an elderly
man is always a disaster. Hence the saying, "There's no fool like an old
fool." An elderly man should not _fall_ in love. He should walk into it. He
should survey the ground carefully as Mr. Barkis did. That admirable man
took the business of falling in love seriously:
"'So she makes,' said Mr. Barkis, after a long interval of reflection, 'all
the apple parsties, and does all the cooking, do she?'
"I replied that such was the fact.
"'Well, I'll tell you what,' said Mr. Barkis. 'P'raps you might be writin'
to her?'
"'I shall certainly write to her,' I rejoined.
"'Ah!' he said, slowly turning his eyes towards me. 'Well! If you was
writin' to her, p'raps you'd recollect to say that Barkis was willin',
would you?'"
This is a model of caution in the art of middle-aged love-making.
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