CHAPTER XII.

ROMANCE AND REALITY.

A day’s ramble about town—Strange sights 191 and sounds—Fatigue—The alarm of fire—Where it came from—General indifference to it—The fire engine—The boys at home—Ettie and her dissected map—Queer transformations—Description of the fire-alarm telegraph—The signal stations—The central office—How the bells are struck—Its value—Mr. Davenport’s questions—His fatigue—A comparison between city and country workers—Whistler’s anticipated farm—Playful retort—Romance of the farm—All men not made for farmers—Other pursuits necessary—The great mistake—A dry but important subject—Clinton’s choice of a profession—Why he would like to be a merchant—Romantic notions of mercantile life—The other side—Practical application—The summing up—A few first principles of political economy—A legal opinion without a fee,