"Bertie," I said, "I expect persecution. I welcome it. All great souls do. I look for it. On one pretext or another, I will be flung into prison when my next volume, "Clamor, Cries and Curses' comes out."
And I will, too, if I ever find a publisher who dares to bring it out. But they are all too cowardly!
"Fothy," he said, "you Revolutionists are always talking — but what do you ever do?
I arose with dignity. "Bertie," I said, "I am ready to suffer for the Cause." I turned and left him. I must have been pale with resolve, for he ran after me and caught me by the wrist. But I shook him off.
I was in a desperate mood.
"Curses upon all their Conventions!" I said, as I turned up the street toward Central Park. "Curses upon all organized society!"
I stopped in front of Columbus's statue, at
Columbus Circle.
"Fool," I muttered bitterly, "to discover a new world"
I shook my fist at the statue and went on.
I wandered over to the place where they keep the animals, and stopped in front of one of the monkey cages.