\"IknowI’mafool，\"heconfessed。\"IhavenopositiveproofthatitWAShiscat；butI’llmakehimpayforcallingmeanOldBaileyAttorney，hangedifIdon’t！\"
WeallknowhowthepuddingOUGHTtobemade。Wedonotprofesstobeabletomakeit：thatisnotourbusiness。Ourbusinessistocriticizethecook。Itseemsourbusinesstocriticizesomanythingsthatitisnotourbusinesstodo。Weareallcriticsnowadays。Ihavemyopinionofyou，Reader，andyoupossiblyhaveyourownopinionofme。Idonotseektoknowit；personally，I
preferthemanwhosayswhathehastosayofmebehindmyback。I
remember，whenonalecturingtour，theground-planofthehalloftennecessitatedmyminglingwiththeaudienceastheystreamedout。ThisneverhappenedbutIwouldoverhearsomebodyinfrontofmewhispertohisorhercompanion——\"Takecare，he’sjustbehindyou。\"Ialwaysfeltsogratefultothatwhisperer。
AtaBohemianClub，IwasoncedrinkingcoffeewithaNovelist，whohappenedtobeabroad-shouldered，athleticman。Afellow-member，joiningus，saidtotheNovelist，\"Ihavejustfinishedthatlastbookofyours；I’lltellyoumycandidopinionofit。\"PromptlyrepliedtheNovelist，\"Igiveyoufairwarning——ifyoudo，Ishallpunchyourhead。\"Weneverheardthatcandidopinion。