At such periods Mr.Dodge, being ages younger than the junior member of the firm, made it his practice to go down to the office and attend to the business with an earnestness that surprised every one.

He gave over frolicking and stuck resolutely to the "knitting" that Johnson had left behind.

Possessed of a natural though thrifty intelligence,--one that wasted little in public,--and a latent energy that could lift him occasionally above a perfectly normal laziness, he made as much of his opportunities as one could expect of a young man who has two hundred thousand a year and an amiable disposition.
No one in the city was more popular than Simmy Dodge, and no one more deservedly so, for his bad qualities were never so bad that one need hesitate about calling him a good fellow.

His habits were easy but genteel.

When intoxicated he never smashed things, and when sober,--which was his common condition,--he took extremely good care of other people's reputations.