There was a good deal of talk about the case, I suppose,
because it was not in real life, and my friend heard divers criticisms. He
heard of a group of ministers who blamed him for exalting a case of common
honesty, as if it were something extraordinary; and he heard of some
business men who talked it over and said he had worked the case up
splendidly, but he was all wrong in the outcome--the fellow would never
have told the other fellows. They said it would not have been business."
We all laughed except the minister and the Altrurian; the manufacturer
said: "Twenty-five years hence, the fellow who is going into business may
pity the fellows who are pitying him for his hard fate now."
"Very possibly, but not necessarily," said the banker. "Of course, the
business man is on top, as far as money goes; he is the fellow who makes
the big fortunes; the millionaire lawyers and doctors and ministers are
exceptional. But his risks are tremendous. Ninety-five times out of a
hundred he fails. To be sure, he picks up and goes on, but he seldom gets
there, after all."
"Then in your system," said the Altrurian, "the great majority of those
who go into what you call the battle of life are defeated?"
"The killed, wounded, and missing sum up a frightful total," the banker
admitted.
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