Annixter

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 ranch after he has offended her, he follows them to San Francisco and proposes marriage...