Imagination solves the secret riddle, and wit is the guide
that leads the seeker through the winding, bewildering labyrinths.
And there is something in being idle, too!
If I had not gone idly into Mouquin's cellar for dinner that night, I
should have missed the most engaging adventure that ever fell to my
lot. It is second nature for me to be guided by impulse rather than by
reason; reason is always so square-toed and impulse is always so
alluring. You will find that nearly all the great captains were and
are creatures of impulse; nothing brilliant is ever achieved by
calculation. All this is not to say that I am a great captain; it is
offered only to inform you that I am often impulsive.
A _Times_, four days old; and if I hadn't fallen upon it to pass the
twenty-odd minutes between my order and the service of it, I shouldn't
have made the acquaintance of the police in that pretty little suburb
over in New Jersey; nor should I have met the enchanting Blue Domino;
nor would fate have written Kismet. The clairvoyant never has any fun
in this cycle; he has no surprises.
I had been away from New York for several weeks, and had returned only
that afternoon. Thus, the spirit of unrest acquired by travel was
still upon me.
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