nner whatsoever. Having satisfied himself that Bibbs's
scribblings were only a sample of the kind of writing his son preferred
to the machine-shop, he decided, innocently enough, that he would be
justified in reading them.

It appears that a lady will nod pleasantly upon some windy
generalization of a companion, and will wear the most agreeable
expression of accepting it as the law, and then--days afterward,
when the thing is a mummy to its promulgator--she will inquire out
of a clear sky: "WHY did you say that the people down-town have
nothing in life that a chicken hasn't? What did you mean?" And she
may say it in a manner that makes a sensible reply very difficult
--you will be so full of wonder that she remembered so seriously.

Yet, what does the rooster lack? He has food and shelter; he is
warm in winter; his wives raise not one fine family for him, but
dozens. He has a clear sky over him; he breathes sweet air; he
walks in his April orchard under a roof of flowers. He must die,
violently perhaps, but quickly. Is Midas's cancer a better way?
The rooster's wives and children must die. Are those of Midas
immortal? His life is shorter than the life of Midas, but Midas's
life is only a sixth as long as that of the Galapagos tortoise.

The worthy money-worker takes his vacation so that he may refresh
himself anew for the hard work of getting nothing that the rooster
doesn't get. The office-building has an elevator, the rooster
flies up to the bough. Midas has a machine to take him to his work;
the rooster finds his worm underfoot. The "business man" feels
a pressure sometimes, without knowing why, and sits late at wine
after the day's labor; next morning he curses his head because it
interferes with the work--he swears never to relieve that pressure
again. The rooster has no pressure and no wine; this difference is
in his favor.

The rooster is a dependent; he depends upon the farmer and the
weather. Midas is a dependent; he depends upon the farmer and the
weather. The rooster thinks only of the moment; Midas provides for
to-morrow. What does he provide for to-morrow? Nothing that the
rooster will not have without providing.

The rooster and the prosperous worker: they are born, they grub,
they love; they grub and love grubbing; they grub and they die.
Neither knows beauty; neither knows knowledge. And after all, when
Midas d