The Diving Bell | Page 9

the gentleman--a smile which evidently
indicated one of two things; either that he thought my companion
showed her ignorance of the world, in making herself of so little
consequence, and seeming to say, "You may do what you please with
me;" or he thought my reply very old for one of my years. Which was it?
Ah, that was the question. I could not forget that peculiar smile. In fact,
you see I have not forgotten it yet. It seemed to mean something; but
what did it mean? Oh, how I wanted to know exactly what it meant,
and how carefully I watched, to see if I could not find out.
The matter of seats was soon arranged to the satisfaction of all parties.
The old lady and myself had the back seat, while my companion took
the middle seat. I observed that the above-named gentleman passenger
offered several polite attentions to my companion, while he did not
seem to notice me at all, although I had let him know that I was a
person of so much consequence. This might be accounted for by the
fact that she was seated very near him, while my seat was more distant,
or there might be some other cause for it.
The opinion of a stranger whom I never expected again to meet, was
not in itself of any great importance; yet it certainly had a bearing on
the question whether or not my traveling instructions were of the right
kind. If they were, my answer was certainly the right one, and
calculated to make a favorable impression upon the minds of my fellow
passengers. But when I tried to look at the affair in this light, I was
disturbed by a secret thought that I should have had a more comfortable
feeling of self-respect, if I had given up the back seat--for which, after
all, I did not care a straw--to an aged female, who really thought she
could not ride on the middle seat.
When I returned home, I related the incident to Miss Tompkins, the
seamstress whose directions I had undertaken to follow, and also
frankly owned that I was not quite sure which reply had caused that
peculiar smile. She assured me there could be no doubt on that point.
"The gentleman was amused at the ignorance of the world which that
other girl showed. He thought she was not much, or she would not so
readily step aside, and give up her rights to any one who might choose

to claim them."
But I was by no means convinced of the truth of this statement of the
case; and when I was a little older, I came to such conclusions on the
subject that I believe I have never tried, since that time, to establish my
claim to be a person of consequence by similar means.
Indeed, to tell the truth, I have not thought much of the wisdom of these
instructions, from that day to this; and I certainly would not
recommend to you, my young friend, that which I have turned out of
my own service, as useless lumber. Seriously, I do not think you will
ever suffer in the opinion of your fellow travelers, by being kind and
obliging, and showing that you do not think yourself of so much
consequence as to forget there is any one else in the world. When a
person takes pains to impress others with a sense of his importance, it
almost always excites a suspicion that he is trying to pass for something
more than he really is. It does not require all this show and pretension
to keep the place which really belongs to him, and to attempt more than
this, will only draw upon him neglect and contempt.
To this chapter in the experience of Aunt Kate, I feel very much like
adding a word or two, "by way of improvement," as the ministers say.
But on second thought, I guess it will be as well to let you use the
diving bell, and see if you cannot bring out the improvement
yourselves.

VI.
"TRY THE OTHER END."
The other day I came across a man who was tugging with all his might
at the wrong end of a lever. That is, he had a great crowbar, almost as
large as he could lift, and was bearing down on one end of it, while the
block of wood which he had put under it for a purchase, was at the
same end. He was trying to pry up a large stone in that way. But the
stone would not be pryed up. It was a very obstinate stone, the good old

farmer thought. He had no notion of giving up the project, however. So
he pulled