thinkIhavefixedthingssothatwemaybericherthaneverbeforeautumn。
“NowIwilltellyou，mydear，whatIpropose。Yousayyouarewelladvancedwithyourfirststatue；startinmanfullyandfinishit，andifyourteacher——Icanneverrememberhowtospellhisname——willsendmeacertificatethatitisuptomarketstandard，youshallhavetenthousanddollarstodowhatyoulikewith，eitherathomeorinParis。Isuggest，sinceyousaythefacilitiesforworkaresomuchgreaterinthatcity，youwoulddowelltobuyorbuildalittlehome；andthefirstthingyouknow，yourdadwillbedroppinginforaluncheon。
Indeed，Iwouldcomenow，forIambeginningtogrowold，andIlongtoseemydearboy；buttherearestillsomeoperationsthatwantwatchingandnursing。Tellyourfriend，Mr。
Pinkerton，thatIreadhisletterseveryweek；andthoughIhavelookedinvainlatelyformyLoudon’sname，stillIlearnsomethingofthelifeheisleadinginthatstrange，oldworld，depictedbyanablepen。”
Herewasaletterthatnoyoungmancouldpossiblydigestinsolitude。Itmarkedoneofthosejunctureswhentheconfidantisnecessary；andtheconfidantselectedwasnoneotherthanJimPinkerton。Myfather’smessagemayhavehadaninfluenceinthisdecision；butIscarcesupposeso，fortheintimacywasalreadyfaradvanced。Ihadagenuineandlivelytasteformycompatriot；Ilaughedat，Iscolded，andIlovedhim。He，uponhisside，paidmeakindofdoglikeserviceofadmiration，gazingatmefromafaroffasatonewhohadliberallyenjoyedthose“advantages“whichheenviedforhimself。Hefollowedatheel；hislaughwasreadychorus；ourfriendsgavehimthenicknameof“TheHenchman。”Itwasinthisinsidiousformthatservitudeapproachedme。
PinkertonandIreadandre-readthefamousnews：he，Icanswear，withanenjoymentasunalloyedandfarmorevocalthanmyown。Thestatuewasnearlydone：afewdays’worksufficedtoprepareitforexhibition；themasterwasapproached；hegavehisconsent；andonecloudlessmorningofMaybeheldusgatheredinmystudioforthehouroftrial。Themasterworehismany-huedrosette；hecameattendedbytwoofmyFrenchfellow-pupils——friendsofmineandbothconsiderablesculptorsinParisatthishour。“CorporalJohn“(asweusedtocallhim)
breakingforoncethosehabitsofstudyandreservewhichhavesincecarriedhimsohighintheopinionoftheworld，hadlefthiseaselofamorningtocountenanceafellow-countrymaninsomesuspense。MydearoldRomneywastherebyparticularrequest；forwhothatknewhimwouldthinkapleasurequitecompleteunlesshesharedit，ornotsupportamortificationmoreeasilyifhewerepresenttoconsole？ThepartywascompletedbyJohnMyner，theEnglishman；bythebrothersStennis，——Stennis-aineandStennis-frere，astheyusedtofigureontheiraccountsatBarbizon——apairofhare-brainedScots；andbytheinevitableJim，aswhiteasasheetandbedewedwiththesweatofanxiety。
IsupposeIwaslittlebettermyselfwhenIunveiledtheGeniusofMuskegon。Themasterwalkedaboutitseriously；thenhesmiled。
“Itisalreadynotsobad。”saidhe，inthatfunnyEnglishofwhichhewassoproud。“No，alreadynotsobad。”
Wealldrewadeepbreathofrelief；andCorporalJohn(asthemostconsiderablejuniorpresent)explainedtohimitwasintendedforapublicbuilding，akindofprefecture——
“He！Quoi？”criedhe，relapsingintoFrench。“Qu’est-cequevousmechantezla？O，inAmerica。”headded，onfurtherinformationbeinghastilyfurnished。“Thatisanozersing。O，verygood，verygood。”
Theideaoftherequiredcertificatehadtobeintroducedtohismindinthelightofapleasantry——thefancyofanaboblittlemoreadvancedthantheredIndiansof“FennimoreCooperr“；
andittookallourtalentscombinedtoconceiveaformofwordsthatwouldbeacceptableonbothsides。Onewasfound，however：CorporalJohnengrosseditinhisundecipherablehand，themasterlentitthesanctionofhisnameandflourish，I
slippeditintoanenvelopealongwithoneofthetwolettersI
hadreadypreparedinmypocket，andastherestofusmovedoffalongtheboulevardtobreakfast，Pinkertonwasdetachedinacabanddulycommittedittothepost。
ThebreakfastwasorderedatLavenue’s，wherenooneneedbeashamedtoentertaineventhemaster；thetablewaslaidinthegarden；Ihadchosenthebilloffaremyself；onthewinequestionweheldacouncilofwarwiththemostfortunateresults；andthetalk，assoonasthemasterlaidasidehispainfulEnglish，becamefastandfurious。Therewereafewinterruptions，indeed，inthewayoftoasts。Themaster’shealthhadtobedrunk，andherespondedinalittlewell-turnedspeech，fullofneatallusionstomyfutureandtotheUnitedStates；myhealthfollowed；andthenmyfather’smustnotonlybeproposedanddrunk，butafullreportmustbedespatchedtohimatoncebycablegram——anextravagancewhichwasalmostthemeansofthemaster’sdissolution。ChoosingCorporalJohntobehisconfidant(ontheground，Ipresume，thathewasalreadytoogoodanartisttobeanylongeranAmericanexceptinname)hesummeduphisamazementinoneoft-repeatedformula——“C’estbarbare！”Apartfromthesegenialformalities，wetalked，talkedofart，andtalkedofitasonlyartistscan。
HereintheSouthSeaswetalkschoonersmostofthetime；intheQuarterwetalkedartwiththelikeunflagginginterest，andperhapsasmuchresult。
Beforeverylong，themasterwentaway；CorporalJohn(whowasalreadyasortofyoungmaster)followedonhisheels；andtherankandfilewerenaturallyrelievedbytheirdeparture。Wewerenowamongequals；thebottlepassed，theconversationsped。IthinkIcanstillheartheStennisbrotherspourforththeircopioustirades；Dijon，myportlyFrenchfellow-student，dropwitticismswell-conditionedlikehimself；andanother(whowasweakinforeignlanguages)dashhotlyintothecurrentoftalkwithsome“Jetrovequeporeoonsontimongdedelicacy，Corot……”orsome“PourmoiCorotestleplou……”
andthen，hislittleraftofFrenchfounderingatonce，scramblesilentlytoshoreagain。Heatleastcouldunderstand；buttoPinkerton，Ithinkthenoise，thewine，thesun，theshadowsoftheleaves，andtheesotericgloryofbeingseatedataforeignfestival，madeupthewholeavailablemeansofentertainment。
Wesatdownabouthalfpasteleven；Isupposeitwastwowhen，somepointarisingandsomeparticularpicturebeinginstanced，anadjournmenttotheLouvrewasproposed。Ipaidthescore，andinamomentweweretroopingdowntheRuedeRenne。Itwassmokinghot；Parisglitteredwiththatsuperficialbrilliancywhichissoagreeabletothemaninhighspirits，andinmoodsofdejectionsodepressing；thewinesanginmyears，itdancedandbrightenedinmyeyes。Thepicturesthatwesawthatafternoon，aswespedbrisklyandloquaciouslythroughtheimmortalgalleries，appeartome，uponaretrospect，theloveliestofall；thecommentsweexchangedtohavetouchedthehighestmarkofcriticism，graveorgay。
Itwasonlywhenweissuedagainfromthemuseumthatadifferenceofracebrokeuptheparty。Dijonproposedanadjournmenttoacafe，theretofinishtheafternoononbeer；theelderStennis，revoltedatthethought，movedforthecountry，aforestifpossible，andalongwalk。AtoncetheEnglishspeakersralliedtothenameofanyexercise：eventome，whohavebeenoftentwittedwithmysedentaryhabits，thethoughtofcountryairandstillnessprovedinvinciblyattractive。Itappeared，uponinvestigation，wehadjusttimetohailacabandcatchoneofthefasttrainsforFontainebleau。Beyondtheclotheswestoodin，allweredestituteofwhatiscalled(withdaintyvagueness)personaleffects；anditwasearnestlymooted，ontheotherside，whetherwehadnottimetocalluponthewayandpackasatchel？ButtheStennisboysexclaimeduponoureffeminacy。TheyhadcomefromLondon，itappeared，aweekbeforewithnothingbutgreatcoatsandtooth-brushes。Nobaggage——therewasthesecretofexistence。Itwasexpensive，tobesure；foreverytimeyouhadtocombyourhair，abarbermustbepaid，andeverytimeyouchangedyourlinen，oneshirtmustbeboughtandanotherthrownaway；butanythingwasbetter(arguedtheseyounggentlemen)thantobetheslavesofhaversacks。“Afellowhastogetridgraduallyofallmaterialattachments；thatwasmanhood“(saidthey)；“andaslongasyouwerebounddowntoanything，——house，umbrella，orportmanteau，——youwerestilltetheredbytheumbilicalcord。”
Somethingengaginginthistheorycarriedthemostofusaway。
ThetwoFrenchmen，indeed，retired，scoffing，totheirbock；andRomney，beingtoopoortojointheexcursiononhisownresourcesandtooproudtoborrow，meltedunobtrusivelyaway。
Meanwhiletheremainderofthecompanycrowdedthebenchesofacab；thehorsewasurged(ashorseshavetobe)byanappealtothepocketofthedriver；thetraincaughtbytheinsideofaminute；andinlessthananhourandahalfwewerebreathingdeepofthesweetairoftheforestandstretchingourlegsupthehillfromFontainebleauoctroi，boundforBarbizon。
Thattheleadingmembersofourpartycoveredthedistanceinfifty-oneminutesandahalfis(Ibelieve)oneofthehistoriclandmarksofthecolony；butyouwillscarcebesurprisedtolearnthatIwassomewhatintherear。Myner，acomparativelyphilosophicBriton，keptmecompanyinmydeliberateadvance；
thegloryofthesun’sgoingdown，thefallofthelongshadows，theinimitablescentandtheinspirationofthewoods，attunedmemoreandmoretowalkinasilencewhichprogressivelyinfectedmycompanion；andIrememberthat，whenatlasthespoke，Iwasstartledfromadeepabstraction。
“Yourfatherseemstobeaprettygoodkindofafather。”saidhe。“Whydon’thecometoseeyou？”Iwasreadywithsomedozenofreasons，andhadmoreinstock；butMyner，withthatshrewdnesswhichmadehimfearedandadmired，suddenlyfixedmewithhiseye-glassandasked，“Everpresshim？”
Thebloodcameinmyface。No；Ihadneverpressedhim；Ihadneverevenencouragedhimtocome。Iwasproudofhim；
proudofhishandsomelooks，ofhiskind，gentleways，ofthatbrightfacehecouldshowwhenotherswerehappy；proud，too(meanlyproud，ifyoulike)ofhisgreatwealthandstartlingliberalities。AndyethewouldhavebeeninthewayofmyParislife，ofmuchofwhichhewouldhavedisapproved。Ihadfearedtoexposetocriticismhisinnocentremarksonart；Ihadtoldmyself，Ihadevenpartlybelieved，hedidnotwanttocome；Ihadbeen(andstillam)convincedthathewassuretobeunhappyoutofMuskegon；inshort，Ihadathousandreasons，goodandbad，notallofwhichcouldalteroneiotaofthefactthatIknewheonlywaitedformyinvitation。
“Thankyou，Myner。”saidI；“you’reamuchbetterfellowthaneverIsupposed。I’llwriteto-night。”
“O，you’reaprettydecentsortyourself。”returnedMyner，withmorethanhisusualflippancyofmanner，but(asIwasgratefullyaware)notatraceofhisoccasionalironyofmeaning。
Well，thesewerebravedays，onwhichIcoulddwellforever。
Brave，too，werethosethatfollowed，whenPinkertonandI
walkedParisandthesuburbs，viewingandpricinghousesformynewestablishment，orcoveredourselveswithdustandreturnedladenwithChinesegodsandbrasswarming-pansfromthedealersinantiquities。IfoundPinkertonwellupinthesituationoftheseestablishmentsaswellasinthecurrentprices，andwithquiteasmatteringofcriticaljudgment；itturnedouthewasinvestingcapitalinpicturesandcuriositiesfortheStates，andthesuperficialthoroughnessofthecreatureappearedinthefact，thatalthoughhewouldneverbeaconnoisseur，hewasalreadysomethingofanexpert。Thethingsthemselveslefthimasnearasmaybecold；buthehadajoyofhisowninunderstandinghowtobuyandsellthem。
InsuchengagementsthetimepasseduntilImightverywellexpectananswerfrommyfather。Twomailsfollowedeachother，andbroughtnothing。BythethirdIreceivedalongandalmostincoherentletterofremorse，encouragement，consolation，anddespair。Fromthispitifuldocument，which(withamovementofpiety)IburnedassoonasIhadreadit，I
gatheredthatthebubbleofmyfather’swealthwasburst，thathewasnowbothpennilessandsick；andthatI，sofarfromexpectingtenthousanddollarstothrowawayinjuvenileextravagance，mustlooknolongerforthequarterlyremittancesonwhichIlived。Mycasewashardenough；butIhadsenseenoughtoperceive，anddecencyenoughtodomyduty。Isoldmycuriosities，orratherIsentPinkertontosellthem；andhehadpreviouslyboughtandnowdisposedofthemsowiselythatthelosswastrifling。This，withwhatremainedofmylastallowance，leftmeattheheadofnolessthanfivethousandfrancs。FivehundredIreservedformyownimmediatenecessities；therestImailedinsideoftheweektomyfatheratMuskegon，wheretheycameintimetopayhisfuneralexpenses。
