Ihadhearditdarklywhisperedthathewassomethingofavagabond。Butthetermissolooselyapplied，anditseemssodifficult，afterall，todefinewhatavagabondis，ortostriketherightmoralbalancebetweenthevagabondworkwhichisboldlypublished，andthevagabondworkwhichisreservedforprivatecirculationonly，thatIdidnotfeeljustifiedinholdingalooffrommyformerfriend。Accordingly，Irenewedouracquaintance，andtoldhimmypresentdifficulty。Hewasasharpman，andheshowedmeawayoutofitdirectly。
\"Youhaveagoodeyeforalikeness，\"hesaid；\"andyouhavemadeitkeepyouhitherto。Verywell。Makeitkeepyoustill。Youcan\'tprofitablycaricaturepeople\'sfacesanylonger——nevermind!gototheotherextreme，andflatterthemnow。Turnportrait-painter。Youshallhavetheuseofthisstudythreedaysintheweek，fortenshillingsaweek——sleepingonthehearth-rugincluded，ifyoulike。Getyourpaints，rouseupyourfriends，settoworkatonce。Drawingisofnoconsequence；paintingisofnoconsequence；perspectiveisofnoconsequence；ideasareofnoconsequence。Everythingisofnoconsequence，exceptcatchingalikenessandflatteringyoursitter——andthatyouknowyoucando。”
IfeltthatIcould；andlefthimforthenearestcolorman\'s。
BeforeIgottotheshop，ImetMr。Batterburytakinghiswalkingexercise。Hestopped，shookhandswithmeaffectionately，andaskedwhereIwasgoing。Awonderfulideastruckme。Insteadofansweringhisquestion，IaskedafterLadyMalkinshaw。
\"Don\'tbealarmed，\"saidMr。Batterbury；\"herladyshiptumbleddownstairsyesterdaymorning。”