outlook on life was of the solid

"Of all sad words of tongue or pen," said he, "the saddest are these: 　　'It might have been.' Too late! That is the bitter cry. If you hadtorn yourself from the bosom of the Spiller family by an earliertrain, all might have been well. But no. Your father held your handand said huskily, 'Edwin, don't leave us!' Your mother clung to youweeping, and said, 'Edwin, stay!' Your sisters----""I want to know what----""Your sisters froze on to your knees like little octopuses (oroctopi), and screamed, 'Don't go, Edwin!' And so," said Psmith, deeplyaffected by his recital, "you stayed on till the later train; and, onarrival, you find strange faces in the familiar room, a people thatknow not Spiller." Psmith went to the table, and cheered himself witha sip of tea. Spiller's sad case had moved him greatly. 　　The victim of Fate seemed in no way consoled. 　　"It's beastly cheek, that's what I call it. Are you new chaps?""The very latest thing," said Psmith. 　　"Well, it's beastly cheek."Mike's outlook on life was of the solid, practical order. He wentstraight to the root of the matter. 　　"What are you going to do about it?" he asked. 　　Spiller evaded the question. 　　"It's beastly cheek," he repeated. "You can't go about the placebagging studies.""But we do," said Psmith. "In this life, Comrade Spiller, we must beprepared for every emergency. We must distinguish between the unusualand the impossible. It is unusual for people to go about the placebagging studies, so you have rashly ordered your life on theassumption that it is impossible. Error! Ah, Spiller, Spiller, letthis be a lesson to you.""Look here, I tell you what it----""I was in a motor with a man once. I said to him: 'What would happenif you trod on that pedal thing instead of that other pedal thing?' Hesaid, 'I couldn't. One's the foot-brake, and the other's theaccelerator.' 'But suppose you did?' I said. 'I wouldn't,' he said. 　　'Now we'll let her rip.' So he stamped on the accelerator. Only itturned out to be the foot-brake after all, and we stopped dead, andskidded into a ditch. The advice I give to every young man startinglife is: 'Never confuse the unusual and the impossible.' Take thepresent case. If you had only realised the possibility of somebodysome day collaring your study, you might have thought out dozens ofsound schemes for dealing with the matter. As it is, you areunprepared. The thing comes on you as a surprise. The cry goes round: 　　'Spiller has been taken unawares. He cannot cope with the situation.'""Can't I! I'll----""What _are_ you going to do about it?" said Mike.