He always contrived to sit next the door, to which he paid more attention than to his hearer; his eye always wandering to it as if he meditated an escape, and yet this man was the most audacious libeller of his time.

we may, at last, render our philosophy like that of Epictetus

a darling of the theatre

If one of the fuel gauges is inoperative (flight is not permitted if both have failed), the tanks have to be dipsticked before and after each fueling to confirm the aircraft's fuel status.