The roguery of his boyhood had subsided into a love of little mischievous tricks; and the playful tone of humor, that rippled through his conversation, frequently reminded me of the Cheeryble Brothers, so admirably described by Dickens.  If some one rang at the door, and inquired for Mr. Hopper, he always answered, “There is no such person lives here.”  If the stranger urged that he had been directed by a man who said he knew Mr. Hopper, he would persevere in saying, “There must be some mistake.  No such person lives here.”  At last, when the disappointed visitor turned to go away, he would call out, “Perhaps thou means Isaac T. Hopper?  That is my name.”

Being called upon to give a receipt to a Catholic priest for some money deposited in his hands, he simply wrote “Received of John Smith.”  When the priest had read it, he handed it back and said, “I am disbursing other people’s money, and shall be obliged to show this receipt; therefore, I should like to have you write my name, the Reverend John Smith.”  “I have conscientious scruples about using titles,” replied Friend Hopper.  “However, I will try to oblige thee.”  He took another slip of paper, and wrote, “Received of John Smith, who calls himself the Reverend.”  The priest smiled, and accepted the compromise; being well aware that the pleasantry originated in no personal or sectarian prejudice.

He always had something facetious to say to the people with whom he traded.  The oyster-men, the coal-men, and the women at the fruit-stalls in his neighborhood, all knew him as a pleasant old gentleman, always ready for a joke.  One day, when he was buying some peaches, he said to the woman, “A serious accident happened at our house last night.  I killed two robbers.”  “Dear me!” she exclaimed.  “Were they young men, or old convicts?  Had they ever been in Sing Sing?” “I don’t know about that,” replied he.  “I should think they might have been by the noise they made.  But I despatched them before they had stolen much.  The walls are quite bloody.”  “Has a Coroner’s inquest been called?” inquired the woman.  When he answered, “No,” she lifted her hands in astonishment, and exclaimed, “Well now, I do declare!  If anybody else had done it, there would have been a great fuss made about it; but you are a privileged man, Mr. Hopper.”  When he was about to walk away, he turned round and said, “I did not mention to thee that the robbers I killed were two mosquitoes.”  The woman had a good laugh, and he came home as pleased as a boy, to think how completely his serious manner had deceived her.

One day he went to a hosiery store, and said to the man, “I bought a pair of stockings here yesterday.  They looked very nice; but when I got home, I found two large holes in them; and I have come for another pair.  The man summoned his wife, and informed her of what the gentleman had said.

“Bless me!  Is it possible, sir?” she exclaimed.

“Yes,” replied Friend Hopper, I found they had holes as large as my hand.”