"I have made over my hand to a friend; when I feel disposed, I can take
up the cards again. I dare say that a twelvemonth hence the operation
will be reversed. The pendulum will swing back again. I shall be sitting
in a gondola or on a dromedary, and all of a sudden I shall want
to clear out. But for the present I am perfectly free. I have even
bargained that I am to receive no business letters."

"Oh, it's a real caprice de prince," said Tristram. "I back out; a poor
devil like me can't help you to spend such very magnificent leisure as
that. You should get introduced to the crowned heads."

Newman looked at him a moment, and then, with his easy smile, "How does
one do it?" he asked.

"Come, I like that!" cried Tristram. "It shows you are in earnest."

"Of course I am in earnest. Didn't I say I wanted the best? I know the
best can't be had for mere money, but I rather think money will do a
good deal. In addition, I am willing to take a good deal of trouble."

"You are not bashful, eh?"

"I haven't the least idea. I want the biggest kind of entertainment a
man can get. People, places, art, nature, everything! I want to see the
tallest mountains, and the bluest lakes, and the finest pictures and the
handsomest churches, and the most celebrated men, and the most beautiful
women."

"Settle down in Paris, then. There are no mountains that I know of, and