Annixter is Presley's best friend, a gruff man who is bad at social relations, especially with women. He is the proprietor of the Quien Sabe ranch, where he lives a simple lifestyle, often reading David Copperfield. Like Presley, Annixter is college-educated, with his degree in civil engineering. The responsibility of the ranch has given him chronic stomach troubles.
Annixter finds himself attracted to Hilma Tree, the daughter of a couple who live and work on his farm. His only other significant relationship with a woman, a clerk in a glove-cleaning establishment in Sacramento, ended poorly, driving Annixter to declare himself a woman-hater. With Hilma, he is awkward, and several times his attempts to develop a relationship with her are misinterpreted as lewd suggestions. Finally, after she and her family move away from the.....
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