“And now, friends, let’s pry out the unmoral moral. Honest merit may cinch the boss job in the hardware store, but idle ignorance often cops the electric sign on Broadway. The lazy man spends his time scheming how to get the easy money—and often gets it. The ignorant man, unwarped by tradition, develops on original lines that make for fortune. Even laziness and ignorance can be factors of success. All of which isn’t according to the Sunday School story book, but it’s the world we live in. And now as I see Madam is tired, let’s bring the session to a close.”
That night, as I was going home, with Anastasia clinging on my arm, I said:
“And what is it you dream of, Little Thing?”
“Me! Oh, I dream all time I make good wife for the Beautiful One I have.”
CHAPTER V
THE CITY OF LOVE
This morning in the course of my walk I was passing Cook’s corner in the Place de l’Opera, when I was accosted from behind by an alcoholic voice:
“Want to see the Crystal Palace to-day, sir?”
Now the Crystal Palace is one of these traps for the stranger with which Paris is baited. Your Parisian knows these places as part of the city’s life which is not there for the Frenchman but for the tourist and stranger. These people look for these things as a part of the life of Paris, your Parisian says, and in consequence they are there.
I was going on, then, when something familiar in the voice made me turn sharply. Lo and behold!—O’Flather.
“Hullo, Professor!” I said, with a grin. “Gone out of the flea-taming business?”