les and bitterness. There's
no dislike like that of a dependant. You'll get neither gratitude
nor civility in the end, and be lucky if you escape with a character.
(You've got NO character, Smith; I'm only just supposing you have.)
There's no hatred too bitter for, and nothing too bad to be said of, the
mug who turns. The worst yarns about a man are generally started by his
own tribe, and the world believes them at once on that very account.
Well, the first thing to do in life is to escape from your friends.

"If you ever go to work--and miracles have happened before--no matter
what your wages are, or how you are treated, you can take it for granted
that you're sweated; act on that to the best of your ability, or you'll
never rise in the world. If you go to see a show on the nod you'll be
found a comfortable seat in a good place; but if you pay the chances
are the ticket clerk will tell you a lie, and you'll have to hustle for
standing room. The man that doesn't ante gets the best of this world;
anything he'll stand is good enough for the man that pays. If you try to
be too sharp you'll get into gaol sooner or later; if you try to be too
honest the chances are that the bailiff will get into your house--if you
have one--and make a holy show of you before the neighbours. The honest
softy is more often mistaken for a swindler, and accused of being one,
than the out-and-out scamp; and the man that tells the truth too much
is set down as an irreclaimable liar. But most of the time crow low
and roost high, for it's a funny world, and you never know what might
happen.

"And if you get married (and there's no accounting for a woman's taste)
be as bad as you like, and then moderately good, and your wife will
love you. If you're bad all the time she can't stand it for ever, and if
you're good all the time she'll naturally treat you with contempt. Never
explain what you're going to do, and don't explain afterwards, if you
can help it. If you find yourself between two stools, strike hard for
your own self, Smith--strike hard, and you'll be respected more than if
you fought for all the world. Generosity isn't understood nowadays, and
what the people don't understand is either 'mad' or 'cronk'. Failure has
no case, and you can't build one for it.... I started out in life very
young--and very soft."

. . . . .

"I thought you were going to tell me your story, Steely," remarked
Smith.

Steelman smiled sadly.