With native quickness of comprehension, the spirit of banter dropped from him, his mood merged into the boy's mood.
"No," he said, "we are not meant to stand quite alone, and when two of us are flung up against each other as we have been flung, by a wave of circumstance, you may take it that the gods control the currents.

In our case I would say, 'Let's bow to the inevitable! Let's be friends!'" He put out his hand and took the boy's strong, slim fingers in his grasp.
"I don't want your secret," he added, with a quickening interest, "but I want to know one thing.

Tell me what you are seeking here in Paris?
Is it pleasure, or money, or what ?" He watched the boy's mobile face as he put his question: he saw it swept by emotion, transfigured as if by some inner light; then the hand in his trembled a little, and the gray eyes with their flecks of gold were lifted to his own, giving insight into the hidden soul.
"I want more than pleasure, monsieur--more than money," he said.

"I want first life--and then fame.".