Page:Life of Isaiah V Williamson.djvu/172

148 every day thereafter, rain and mud to the contrary notwithstanding. And attention was called to the fact that, although he was immensely wealthy, he kept no carriage of his own until the very last year or two when he was unable to walk, and that he did not incur the expense of his own coupe and personal attendant until he was simply forced to it by his physical feebleness.

Now, in a way, these very eccentricities of old age make his character more interesting, and even more lovable. The simple fact is that he liked his old clothes; he liked his old office furnished with old desks, trunks and shelves, and having the associations of so many years. He liked the old umbrella and the shabby hand-bag. He felt "at home" with them all, just as he felt at home with his old friends. And really there is nothing strange about this. Old people generally feel that way, in their homes as in their offices, not as a matter of economy necessarily, but of personal comfort and ease of mind.

No doubt he disliked conventionalities; but it is not as if he were slovenly regarding personal care of himself. Those who were