"And his drinking?"
"He has conquered that entirely ... once every so often the fit comes over him—the craving for it—then, when Uncle Bill turns up missing, as the Irishman puts it, none of us worries....
"We all know he has hitched up his horse and buggy and is off, driving and driving and driving across country, to work the fit out ... no, he never touches anything stronger than tobacco and coffee now....
"In a few days he comes back ... no one says a word ... we all know ... and love and respect him....
"He's happy now, is Uncle Bill ... married a young wife ... has a home all his own ... money piling up in the bank."
Ally Merton smiled quizzically when I spoke of Uncle Bill to him....
"Yes, Uncle Bill's a fine, quaint old chap ... whenever he has a tiff with his wife—of course, never anything serious—he locks himself in the kitchen ... closes all the windows ... smokes up terrifically with his corncob ... and plays and plays for hours on end ... his Red Seal records of classical music of which he is so fond.
"This behaviour of his is a well-known joke among us, a joke with his wife, to!" ... the speaker paused, to continue—
"He has a good library and quite a large knowledge of the English poets."