Hugo nodded. "You'll come through—some winter—and you won't ever return to Coney Island."
"I know it. Unless I do it for sentimental reasons some day—in a limousine."
"It's myself," Hugo said then, "and not you who is doomed to—well, to this sort of thing. You have a talent that is at least understandable and—" he was going to say mediocre. He checked himself—"applicable in the world of human affairs. My talent—if it is a talent—has no place, no application, no audience."
Mitchel stared at Hugo, wondering first what that talent might be and then recognizing that Hugo meant his strength. "Nonsense. Any male in his right senses would give all his wits to be as strong as you are."
It was a polite, friendly thing to say. Hugo could not refrain from comparing himself to Valentine Mitchel. An artist—a clever artist and one who would some day be important to the world. Because people could understand what he drew, because it represented a level of thought and expression. He was, like Hugo, in the doldrums of progress. But Mitchel would emerge, succeed, be happy—or at least satisfied with himself—while Hugo was bound to silence, was compelled never to allow himself full expression. Humanity would never accept and understand him. They were not similar people, but their case was, at that instant, ironically parallel. "It isn't only being strong," he answered meditatively, "but it's knowing what to do with your strength."
"Why—there are a thousand things to do."
"Such as?"
Mitchel raised himself on his elbows and turned his water-coloured eyes on the populous beach. "Well—well—let's see. You could, of course, be a strong man and amuse people—which you're doing. You could—oh, there are lots of things you could do."
Hugo smiled. "I've been thinking about them—for years. And I can't discover any that are worth the effort."
"Bosh!"