He set to work vigorously to prepare for the reading too and--the artistic temperament!--rehearsed before the looking-glass and went over all the jokes and witticisms uttered in the course of his life which he had written down in a separate notebook, to insert into his reading next day.
"My dear, I do this for the sake of a great idea," he said to me, obviously justifying himself.

"_Cher ami,_ I have been stationary for twenty-five years and suddenly I've begun to move--whither, I know not--but I've begun to move....".