They talked incessantly--an utterly foolish gabble like that of young birds.

An old gentleman across the aisle cast an impatient glance at them from time to time.

Finally he arose stiffly and went into the smoker.

Their youth and braggadocio of innocence and ignorance, and the remembrance of his own, irritated him.

He did not in the least regret his youth, but the recollection of the first stages of his life, now that he was so near the end, was like looking backward over a long road, which had led to absurdly different goals from what he had imagined.