He half suffocated himself with laughing here. ‘Lord bless you!’ said Mr. Omer, resuming his pipe, ‘a man must take the fat with the lean; that’s what he must make up his mind to, in this life. Joram does a fine business. Ex-cellent business!’ ‘I am very glad to hear it,’ said I. ‘I knew you would be,’ said Mr. Omer. ‘And Joram and Minnie are like Valentines. What more can a man expect? What’s his limbs to that!’ His supreme contempt for his own limbs, as he sat smoking, was one of the pleasantest oddities I have ever encountered. ‘And since I’ve took to general reading, you’ve took to general writing, eh, sir?’ said Mr. Omer, surveying me admiringly. ‘What a lovely work that was of yours! What expressions in it! I read it every word - every word. And as to feeling sleepy! Not at all!