“With what care and delicacy he wasteth his golden hours in the coloring of his pipe!
“With what pains and ingenuity he wasteth golden years in winning the heart of a woman!
“How lovingly he burneth tobacco for the one!
“How patiently he burneth incense before the other!
“Yet, lo, a sudden coldness—and the pipe hath snapped! A sudden chilliness—and the woman’s love is shattered!
“Or let the fire within the meerschaum’s bowl wax too hot, or the ardor of his devotion unto the woman wax too intense—and behold the pipe is ruined and the woman is spoiled forever!
“And it is all up with him!
“The fool hath said in his heart, ‘All women are as trolley cars, which having once been caught, need no longer be pursued.’ But I say unto thee, thy pursuing is never finished; thy task is never done!
“For, seven times seven weeks, mayest thou devote thyself unto a meerschaum, and seven times seven months, unto a damsel!
“Yet if thou layest them aside, and thinkest to cease from thy devotions for but a little while, lo, the pipe hath faded—and the woman hath forgotten thee.