But the fact is, you only
have just the one long, big moment of excitement when great trouble and
tragedy come, or else it's all excitement, all the time, and then you go
mad. That's the test, I think. When you're struck by Fate, as a hideous
war-machine might strike you, and the whole terror of loss and ruin bears
down on you, you're either swept away in an excitement that hasn't any
end, or you brace yourself, and become master of the shattering thing."
"You are a master," she interposed. "You are the Master Man," she
repeated admiringly.
He waved a hand deprecatingly. "Do you know, when we talked together in
the woods soon after you ran the Rapids--you remember the day--if you had
said that to me then, I'd have cocked my head and thought I was a
jim-dandy, as they say. A Master Man was what I wanted to be. But it's a
pretty barren thing to think, or to feel, that you're a Master Man;
because, if you are--if you've had a 'scoop' all the way, as Jowett calls
it, you can be as sure as anything that no one cares a rap farthing what
happens to you. There are plenty who pretend they care, but it's only
because they're sailing with the wind, and with your even keel. It's only
the Master Man himself that doesn't know in the least he's that who gets
anything out of it all.
Pages:
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357