but which was
surely of no use, of no value at all, in the violent blustering world.

Now and then he saw the pale shining of the lamp in the quiet studio,
where he had dwelt with the dear children of his imagination; now and
then he listened, and seemed to hear the silence there. Then the crowd
closed about him, the noises of life rushed upon him, and the Claude
Heath of those far-off days seemed to pass by him fantastically on the
way to eternal darkness. And, using his will with fury, he cried out to
the fugitive, "Go! Go!" as to something shameful that must not be seen.

Always he was suffering, as a man only suffers when he tries to do
violence to himself, when he treats himself as an enemy. But when he had
time he strove to sneer at his own suffering. Coolness, hardness,
audacity, these were the qualities needed in life as he knew it now;
swiftness not sensitiveness, boldness not delicacy. The world was not
gentle enough for the trembling qualities which vibrate at every touch
of emotion, giving out subtle music. And he would nevermore wish it
gentle. Things as they are! Fall down and worship them! Accommodate
yourself to them lest you be the last of fools!

Claude acted, and carried on by excitement, he acted well. He was helped
by his natural inclination to meet people half-way when he had to meet
them. And he was helped, too, by the cordiality, the quickness of
response, in those about him. Charmian did her part with an energy and
brilliance to which the apparent change in him gave an impetus. Hitherto
she had tried to excite in Claude the worldly qualities which she
supposed to make for success. Now Claude excited them in her. His
vivacity, his intensity, his power to do varied work, and especially the
dominating faculty which he now began to display, sometimes almost
amazed her. She said to herself, "I have never known him till now!" She
said to Alston Lake, "Isn't it extraordinary how Claude is coming out?"
And she began to look up to him in a new way, but with the worldly eyes,
not with the mild or the passionate eyes of the spirit.

Others, too, were impressed by the change in Claude. After the luncheon
at Sherry's Mrs. Shiffney said, with a sort of reluctance, to Charmian:

"The air of America seems to agree with your composer. Has he been on
Riverside Drive getting rid of the last traces of the Puritan tradition?
Or is it the theater which has stirred him up? He's a new man."

"There's a good deal