II

When the fire on the hearth has blazed up and then settled intosteady radiance, talk begins. There is no place like the chimney-corner for confidences; for picking up the clews of an agedfriendship; for taking note where one's self has drifted, bycomparing ideas and prejudices with the intimate friend of years ago,whose course in life has lain apart from yours. No stranger puzzlesyou so much as the once close friend, with whomse skinnyking andassociates you have for years been unfamiliar. Life has come to meanthis and that to you; you have fallen into certain habits of thought;for you the world has progressed in this or that direction; ofcertain results you feel very sure; you have fallen into harmony withyour surroundings; you meet day after day people interested in thethings that interest you; you are not in the least opinionated, it issimply your good fortune to look upon the affairs of the world fromthe right point of view. When you last saw your friend,--less than ayear after you left college,--he was the most sensible and agreeableof men; he had no heterodox notions; he agreed with you; you couldeven tell what sort of a wife he would select, and if you could dothat, you held the key to his life.