youth, he must abandon himself to the hour. Let him practise
lightheartedness as though it were charity. Indeed, it is charity--to
his household, for instance. Ask his household.

He says:

"All this is very dangerous. My friends won't recognize me. I may go
too far. I may become an idler and a spendthrift."

Have no fear.




III - THE RISKS OF LIFE



I


By one of those coincidences for which destiny is sometimes
responsible, the two very opposite plain men whom I am going to write
about were most happily named Mr. Alpha and Mr. Omega; for, owing to a
difference of temperament, they stood far apart, at the extreme ends
of the scale.

In youth, of course, the differences between them was not fully
apparent; such differences seldom are fully apparent in youth. It
first made itself felt in a dramatic way, on the evening when Mr.