But I have an insistent premonition
that I shall soon find myself doing something utterly idiotic, which to
me will be the most real thing in life."
I had indeed awakened that morning with an exhilarating thrill of
anticipation, comparable to that of the mountain climber who knows not
what panorama of glory may be disclosed to his eyes when he reaches the
summit. I had whistled in my bath--a most unusual thing.
"Are you going to turn Socialist?"
"_Qui lo sa_? I'm willing to turn anything alive and honest. It doesn't
matter what a man professes so long as he professes it with all the
faith of all his soul."
I broke into a laugh, for the echo of my words rang comic in my ears.
"Why do you laugh?" she asked.
"Don't you think it funny to hear me talk like a two-penny Carlyle?"
"Not a bit," she said seriously.
"I can't undertake to talk like that always," I said warningly.
"I thought you said you were going to be serious."
"So I am--but platitudinous--Heaven forbid!"
The little clock on the mantelpiece struck six.
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