"The old fashioned way of attaining eminence," Charles Wilton replied, assuming an attitude and speaking out truly the thoughts that were in his mind; "by plodding on with the emmet's patience, and storing up knowledge, grain by grain, brings not the hoped for reward, now. You must startle and surprise. The brilliant meteor attracts a thousand times more attention, than the brightest star that shines in the firmament."
"You are trifling, Charles."
"Never was more in earnest in my life. I have made up my mind to succeed; to be known and envied. And to gain the position of eminence I desire, I mean to take the surest way. The world will be deceived, and, therefore, they who would succeed must throw dust in people's eyes."
"Or, in other words, deceive them by pretension. Charles, let me warn you against any such unmanly, and, I must say, dishonest course. Be true to yourself and true to principle."
"I shall certainly be true to myself, Walter. For what pray do we toil over dry and musty law books in a confined office, months and years, if not to gain the power of rising in the world? I have served my dreary apprenticeship—I have learnt the art and mystery, and now for the best and most certain mode of applying it."
"But, remember your responsibility to society. Your——"
"Nonsense! What do I, or what does any one else care about society? My motto is, Every one for himself, and the deuce take the hindmost. And that's the motto of the whole world."
"Not of the whole world, Charles."
"Yes, of the whole world, with, perhaps, the single, strange exception of Walter Gray. And he will be flung to the wall, and soon forgotten, I fear."
"You jest on a serious subject, Charles."