"Dorothy! Dorothy! it is bed time!"
Miss Guir arose, and saying "Good night," left Ah Ben and Mr. Henley
to themselves.
"I am afraid I have been very stupid," said the old man,
apologetically; "indeed, I must have fallen asleep, as it is my habit
to take a nap in the early evening, after which I am more wide awake
than at any other hour."
"Not at all," answered Paul, "I have been enjoying my pipe, and as
Miss Guir seemed disposed to be quiet, think I must have been nodding
myself."
"Do you feel disposed to join me in another pipe and a midnight
talk," inquired the host, "or are you inclined for bed?"
Paul was not sleepy, and nothing could have suited him better than to
sit over the fire, listening to this strange man, and so he again
accepted eagerly. Ah Ben seemed pleased, declaring it was a great
treat to have a friend who was as much of an owl as he himself was.
And so he added fresh fuel to the dying embers, settled himself in
his cosy corner by the fire, while Paul sat opposite.
"Every man must live his own life," resumed Ah Ben; "but with my
temper, the better half would be blotted out, were I deprived of this
quiet time for thought and reflection."
"I quite agree with you," replied Paul, "and yet the wisdom of the
world is opposed to late hours," "The wisdom of the world is based upon the experience of the worldly
prosperous; and what is worldly prosperity but the accumulation of
dollars? To be prosperous is one thing; to be happy, quite another."
"I see you are coming back to our old argument. I am sure I could
never school myself to the cheerful disregard for money which you
seem to have. For my part, I could not do without it, although, to be
sure, I sometimes manage on very little."
"Again the wisdom of the world!" exclaimed Ah Ben, "and what has it
done for us?"
"It has taught us to be very comfortable in this latter part of the
nineteenth century," Paul replied.
"Has it?" cried the old man, his eyes fixed full upon Henley's face.
"I admit," he continued, "that it has taught us to rely upon luxuries
that eat out the life while pampering the body. It has taught us to
depend upon the poison that paralyzes the will, and that personal
power we were speaking of. It has done much for man, I grant you, but
its efforts have been mainly directed to his destruction."