"
"Not for any friend," John replied. "But I would most certainly do it for
this particular one."
"You must be very fond of him to do that," said Joe.
"I am under great obligations to him, too. He is certainly the most
important man with whom I have any relations. We can trust each other-it
would not do to endanger the certainty of good faith that exists between
us."
"He must be a very wonderful person," said Joe, who had grown quite calm
by this time. "I should like to know him."
"Very possibly you may meet him, some day. He is a very wonderful person
indeed, as you say. He has devoted fifty years of his life and strength to
the unremitting pursuit of the best aim that any man can set before him."
"In other words," said Joe, "he is your ideal. He is what you hope to be
at his age. He must be very old."
"Yes, he is old. As for his representing my ideal, I think he approaches
more nearly to it than any man alive. But you would probably not like
him."
"Why?"
"He belongs to a class of men whom old-world people especially dislike,"
answered John.
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