I believe other people, in a similar situation, would have reasoned as
I did. When the pursuit of our own interests causes us to become objects
of inquiry to ourselves, we are naturally suspicious of what we don't
know. Once in possession of the names of the persons who had been
present at the dinner, I resolved--as a means of enriching the deficient
resources of my own memory--to appeal to the memory of the rest of the
guests; to write down all that they could recollect of the social events
of the birthday; and to test the result, thus obtained, by the light of
what had happened afterwards, when the company had left the house.
This last and newest of my many contemplated experiments in the art
of inquiry--which Betteredge would probably have attributed to the
clear-headed, or French, side of me being uppermost for the moment--may
fairly claim record here, on its own merits. Unlikely as it may seem, I
had now actually groped my way to the root of the matter at last. All I
wanted was a hint to guide me in the right direction at starting. Before
another day had passed over my head, that hint was given me by one of
the company who had been present at the birthday feast!
With the plan of proceeding which I now had in view, it was first
necessary to possess the complete list of the guests.
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