CONCERNING THE "NICEST FELLOWS"
the lie in it, but because it is the prostitution of friendship, and friendship is one of the best things we are allowed on earth.
I remember once when a man, who might better be called a person, left the room where a gang of us were loafing. "Yes," said the owner of the room in answer to the eloquent silence which followed the closing of the door, "I admit that he is an unmitigated ass, but I keep in with him because he may be useful to me later in New York society." This, by the way, produced another eloquent silence. I, for one, had ignorantly supposed that our host was so invariably decent to the ass because so few of the rest of us ever were. Our host was in many ways a bully fellow, but after that we never felt so comfortable in his presence again. We couldn't help wondering how we were to be useful to him.
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