What cynicism he had was mellowed by a fanciful humor. Whether
with steel or with words, he was a master of fence; and if at
times some one got under his guard, that some one knew it not.
To let your enemy see that he has hit you is to give him
confidence. He saw humor where no one else saw it, and tragedy
where it was not suspected. He was one of those rare individuals
who, when the opportunity of chance refuses to come, makes one.
"Germany and Austria are great countries," he mused, lighting a
cigar. "Every hundredth man is a king, one in fifty is a duke,
every tenth man is a prince, and one can not take a corner
without bumping into a count or a baron. Even the hotel waiters
are disquieting; there is that embarrassing atmosphere about
them which suggests nobility in durance vile. As for me, I
prefer Kentucky, where every man is a colonel, and you never
make a mistake. And these kingdoms!" He indulged in subdued
laughter. "They are always like comic operas. I find myself
looking around every moment for the merry villagers so happy and
so gay (at fifteen dollars the week), the eternal innkeeper and
the perennial soubrette his daughter, the low comedian and the
self-conscious tenor.
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