Pisistratus.—“You say the world has smiled on me; I fear it has frowned on you. I don’t say ‘courage,’ for you seem to have enough of that; but I say ‘patience,’ which is the rarer quality of the two.”
Stranger.—“Hem! [again looking at me keenly.] Why is it that you stop to speak to me,—one of whom you know nothing, or worse than nothing?”
Pisistratus.—“Because I have often thought of you; because you interest me; because—pardon me—I would help you if I can,—that is, if you want help.”
Stranger.—“Want? I am one want! I want sleep, I want food; I want the patience you recommend,—patience to starve and rot. I have travelled from Paris to Boulogne on foot, with twelve sous in my pocket. Out of those twelve sous in my pocket I saved four; with the four I went to a billiard-room at Boulogne: I won just enough to pay my passage and buy three rolls. You see I only require capital in order to make a fortune. If with four sous I can win ten francs in a night, what could I win with a capital of four sovereigns, and in the course of a year? That is an application of the Rule of Three which my head aches too much to calculate just at present. Well, those three rolls have lasted me three days; the last crumb went for supper last night. Therefore, take care how you offer me money (for that is what men mean by help). You see I have no option but to take it. But I warn you, don’t expect gratitude; I have none in me!”
Pisistratus.—“You are not so bad as you paint yourself. I would do something more for you, if I can, than lend you the little I have to offer. Will you be frank with me?”
Stranger.—“That depends; I have been frank enough hitherto, I think.”
Pisistratus.—“True; so I proceed without scruple. Don’t tell me your name or your condition, if you object to such confidence; but tell me if you have relations to whom you can apply? You shake your head. Well, then, are you willing to work for yourself, or is it only at the billiard-table—pardon me—that you can try to make four sous produce ten francs?”
Stranger (musing).—“I understand you. I have never worked yet,—I abhor work. But I have no objection to try if it is in me.”
Pisistratus.—“It is in you. A man who can walk from Paris to Boulogne with twelve sous in his pocket and save four for a purpose; who can stake those four on the cool confidence in his own skill, even at billiards; who can subsist for three days on three rolls; and who, on the fourth day, can wake from the stones of a capital with an eye and a spirit as proud as yours,—has in him all the requisites to subdue fortune.”
Stranger.—“Do you work—you?”