It was a habit with him, a habit deliberately formed.
He liked to take people unawares, to create a flurry, reasoning
that he, quick of eye and determined of purpose, could not but
profit by any confusion. He was always in a hurry--that is, he
seemed to be. In this also there was deliberation. It does not
follow because a man is in a hurry that he is an important and
busy person; no more does it follow that a man is an
inconsequential procrastinator if he is leisurely and dilatory.
The significance of action lies in intent. Some men can best gain
their ends by creating an impression that they are extremely lazy,
others by creating the impression that they are exceedingly
energetic. The important point is to be on the spot at the moment
most favorable for gaining the desired advantage; and it will be
found that of the men who get what they want in this world, both
those who seem to hasten and those who seem to lounge are always
at the right place at the right time.
It best fitted Craig, by nature impatient, noisily aggressive, to
adopt the policy of rush. He arrived before time usually, fumed
until he had got everybody into that nervous state in which men,
and women, too, will yield more than they ever would in the
kindly, melting mood.
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