Stubb always prided himself on what he was pleased to call his wonderful gift of reading character.
I've often wondered how such a genius ever came to make such a mistake before he married.
But then love, they say, is blind.
And like Rip Van Winkle's drink, that one didn't count.
To tell you the truth he was a pretty good hand at guessing character, and I've known him to tell five out of six men's occupation or trade just by keen analysis of their appearances and actions.
Of course Stubb went in for reading all such books as Sherlock Holmes.
"After all," he said to me one day as we rode in a Broadway car, "it is really a very simple thing; requires nothing but close observation.
"For instance, it is easy to tell a man's occupation.