Inwood emptied his glass and gazed at the frost on it, sentimentally.
"The main thing," he said, "is for your friends to stand by you——"
"No; the main thing is for them to stand aside—kindly, Billy—while I pass down and out for a while."
"My dear fellow——"
"While I pass out," repeated Edgerton. "I may return; but that will be up to me—and not up to them."
"Well, what good is friendship?"
"Good to believe in—no good otherwise. Let it alone and it's the finest thing in the world; use it, and you will have to find another name for it."
He smiled at Inwood.
"Friendship must remain always the happiest and most comforting of all—theories," he said. "Let it alone; it has a value inestimable in its own place—no value otherwise."
Inwood began to laugh.