He became very popular: the men liked him because he was so unaffected, so straightforward, and the women because he was so respectful and so deferential.
He had no vices.

He had gone through the ordeal of college life and had come out without contracting any habit more serious than a vague distaste for responsibility, and an inclination to shirk disagreeable duties.

Cards he never thought of.

It was rare that he drank so much as a glass of beer.
However, he had come back to a great disappointment.

Business in San Francisco had entered upon a long period of decline, and values were decreasing; for ten years rents had been sagging lower and lower.