{"product_id":"2940016236667","title":"Mr. Laxworthy's Adventures","description":"THE man was awaiting the service of his dinner in the magnificent buffet of the Gare de Lyon. He sat at a table laid for three, on the right-hand side of the entrance and close to the window. From below came the turmoil of the trains.\u003cbr\u003eIn appearance he was of somewhat less than medium height, of unathletic, almost frail, physique. His head was thrust a little forward, as though he were afflicted with a chronic stoop. He wore steel-rimmed spectacles with the air of one who has taken to them too late in life to have escaped the constant habit of peering, which had given to his neck an almost storklike appearance.\u003cbr\u003eA maître d'hôtel, who was passing, paused and looked at the two as yet unoccupied places.\u003cbr\u003e\"Monsieur desires the service of his dinner?\" he inquired.\u003cbr\u003eJohn T. Laxworthy glanced up at the clock.\u003cbr\u003e\"In five minutes,\" he declared, \"my friends will have arrived. The service of dinner can then proceed.\"\u003cbr\u003eThe man bowed and withdrew. Almost as he left the table the swinging doors opened once more to admit another traveller. His eyes fell upon the solitary figure, now deep in a book, seated at the table on his right. With the pleased smile of one who greets an old friend he approached the table at which Mr. John T. Laxworthy sat waiting.\u003cbr\u003eThe idiosyncrasies of great men are always worth noting, and Mr. John T. Laxworthy was. without a doubt, foredoomed from the cradle to a certain measure of celebrity. Even now. when his friend stood by his side, he did not at once look up. Slowly, and with his eyes still riveted upon the pages he was studying, he held out his left hand.\u003cbr\u003e\"I am glad to see you. Anderson,\" he said. \"Shall it be white or red?\"\u003cbr\u003eMr. John T. Laxworthy closed his book with a little sigh of regret and placed a marker within it. He then carefully adjusted his spectacles and made a deliberate survey of his companion. Finally he nodded, slowly and approvingly.\u003cbr\u003eA young man who had just completed a leisurely survey of the room dropped his monocle and came toward them. He was young, he was English. he was well bred, he was an athlete. He beamed upon the two men.\u003cbr\u003e\"How are you, Forrest? How do you do, Laxworthy?\" he exclaimed. \"Looking jolly fit, both of you,\" he went on amiably. \"What a necktie, chief! You ought to let me choose 'em for you.\"\u003cbr\u003eMr. Laxworthy raised his glass. Then he inclined his head in turn to each of his companions.\u003cbr\u003e\"I am glad to see you both,\" he said. \"On the whole, I think that I may congratulate you. You have done well. I drink to our success.\"\u003cbr\u003eThere was a short pause. Presently Mr. Laxworthy commenced to peel an apple.\u003cbr\u003e\"A great portion of this last year,\" be said. \"which you two have spent apparently with profit in carrying out my instructions, I have given to the perfection of a certain scholarly tone which I feel convinced is my proper environment. Incidentally I have devoted myself to the study of various schools of philosophy. I have emerged from my studies with a clearer and more decisive outlook upon the general scheme of life.\u003cbr\u003e\"In one very interesting treatise I found several obvious truths ingeniously put. A certain decadence in the material prosperity of an imaginary state is clearly proved to be due to a too blind following of the tenets of what is known as the hysterical morality, as against the decrees of what we might call expediency. A little sentiment, like garlic in cookery, is a good thing. Too much is fatal. A little—sufficient— morality is excellent; a superabundance disastrous.\u003cbr\u003e\"Society is divided into two classes, those who have and those who have desire to have. The one must always prey upon the other. They are therefore always changing places. It is this continued movement which lends energy to the human race. As soon as it is suspended, degeneration must follow as a matter of course. It is for those who recognize this great truth to follow and obey its tenets.\"\u003cbr\u003eMr. Laxworthy was silent for several moments. He was glancing in meditative fashion through the pages of the book in which he had been engrossed before the arrival of his friends. Finally he closed it.\u003cbr\u003e\"There are some sentences there,\" he remarked, \"wonderfully illustrative of my meaning. Briefly the situation is this:\u003cbr\u003e\"Here am I, a man of singular intelligence and much energy, willing to associate myself with you two in any enterprise likely to lead us out of the common ruck of life, adventurous or mercenary, which may commend itself to us. For that purpose I have trained you both according to your capacities. What you are you owe, in some measure to me; in a lesser degree to yourselves. In any case you are now fit to take the floor.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"May we not hear more definitely what it is that you propose?\" Anderson asked.\u003cbr\u003e\"We stand,\" Mr. Laxworthy replied, always upon the, threshold of the land off adventure. i","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47081199698160,"sku":"2940016236667","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940016236667_p0.jpg?v=1763631004","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940016236667","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}