"And, let's see, there 's something else. I want to fix you up so that you will never again come to me with that hackneyed plaint that the world is going to the dogs because we do not practise what we preach. We have laws and we all preach against intermarriage, do we not? We all condemn the intermarriage of Jew and Christian, of Protestant and Catholic, of chorus girl and rich college student, of an actress and a minister; we prohibit these things and perhaps rightly, and yet--" "And yet?" I asked anxiously. "Do not be alarmed," he answered quickly; "I am not going to advocate intermarriage or assimilation. By this time you will, perhaps, have gathered from what I said that I do not much believe in measures that have to be advocated; rather do I favor the things that heart and soul prompt us to do, whatever our beliefs and theories and in spite of them. The advocacy of a thing, or the supposed necessity of advocating a certain measure, proves the uselessness, untimeliness and futility of it. It is hardly wise to advocate anything. Things must be brought about by conditions to be of vital import. Least of all should any one ever advocate intermarriage, and yet, and yet--do you remember these lines? "'_Two shall be born the whole wide world apart,_ _And speak in different tongues and have no thought_ _Each of the other's being, and no heed._ _And these over unknown seas to unknown lands_ _Shall cross, escaping wreck, defying death,_ _And all unconsciously shape every act_ _And bend each wandering step to this one end,_ _That one day, out of darkness they shall meet_ _And read life's meaning in each other's eyes._' "Yes," he concluded, as we were about to part, "the world is growing better than it ever was before--and it isn't because we have a more efficient police force either." XII Home, the Last Resort "There is no place like home," said Keidansky, "and there's nothing like running away from it." "What is the matter with the home?" I asked. "Nothing," he answered, "except that very often everything is. You are surprised?" he continued. "That's promising. Somehow when I see you shocked it makes me feel as if I am saying something, and I am encouraged to go on. What do I mean? Just this: