As a matter of fact, once his course was finished, Cæsar left the college, took a third-class ticket, went to Paris, and from there wrote to his mother informing her what he had done. Carlos Yarza, Alzugaray’s uncle, received him very affectionately. He took him to dine and explained a good many things. Cæsar asked the old man no end of questions and listened to him with real avidity.
Carlos Yarza was at that time an employee in a bank. At this epoch his forte was for questions of speculation. He had put his mind and his will to the study of these matters and had the glimmering of a system in things where everybody else saw only contingencies without any possible law.
Cæsar accompanied Yarza to the Bourse and was amazed and stirred at seeing the enormous activity there.
Yarza cleared away the innumerable doubts that occurred to the boy.
In the short time Cæsar spent in Paris he came to a most important conclusion, which was that in this life one had to fight terribly to get anywhere.
One day, on awakening in the shabby little room where he lodged, he found that the arms of a very smart woman were around his neck. It was Laura, very contented and joyful to surprise her madcap brother.
“Mamma is alarmed,” Laura told him. “What are you doing here all this time? Are you in love?” “I? Bah!”
“Then what have you been doing?”
“I’ve been going to the Bourse.”
SOUNDING-LINES IN LIFE