Oh yes，I had forgotten the salary! Well then，on that mercenary ground，will you agree to let me hector a little?"

"No，sir，not on that ground; but，on the ground that you did forget it，and that you care whether or not a dependant is fortable in his dependency，I agree heartily."

"And will you consent to dispense with a great many conventional forms and phrases，without thinking that the omission arises from insolence?"

"I am sure，sir，I should never mistake informality for insolence: one I rather like，the other nothing free-born would submit to，even for a salary."

"Humbug! Most things free-born will submit to anything for a salary; therefore，keep to yourself，and don"t venture on generalities of which you are intensely ignorant. However，I mentally shake hands with you for your answer，despite its inaccuracy; and as much for the manner in which it was said，as for the substance of the speech; the manner was frank and sincere; one does not often see such a manner: no，on the contrary，affectation，or coldness，or stupid，coarse-minded misapprehension of one"s meaning are the usual rewards of candour. Not three in three thousand raw school-girl-governesses would have answered me as you have just done. But I don"t mean to flatter you: if you are cast in a different mould to the majority，it is no merit of yours: Nature did it. And then，after all，I go too fast in my conclusions: for what I yet know，you may be no better than the rest; you may have intolerable defects to counterbalance your few good points."

"And so may you," I thought. My eye met his as the idea crossed my mind: he seemed to read the glance，answering as if its import had been spoken as well as imagined-