There was a good deal of
card-playing in the cars, but that never had any attraction for me.
I tried to learn poker, but found it tedious.
The cigarette stumps by which I had sought to counteract my
hunger pangs at the period of my dire need had developed the
cigarette habit in me. This had subsequently become a cigar habit.
I had discovered the psychological significance of smoking "the
cigar of peace and good will." I had realized the importance of
offering a cigar to some of the people I met. I would watch
American smokers and study their ways, as though there were a
special American manner of smoking and such a thing as smoking
with a foreign accent. I came to the conclusion that the dignity of
smoking a cigar lasted only while the cigar was still long and
fresh. There seemed to be special elegance in a smoker taking a
newly lighted cigar out of his mouth and throwing a glance at its
glowing end to see if it was smoking well.
Accordingly, I never did so without being conscious of my
gestures and trying to make them as "American" as possible
The other cloak salesmen I met on the road in those days were
mostly representatives of much bigger houses than mine.
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