It was so long since he had foregathered with fellow-men that at first he spent his club hours in shy silence. He would sit, ostensibly reading a periodical, and actually listening to the conversation of those about him. In so doing he learnt many things in regard to the subjects which men will discuss one with another. The Phœnician was to a great extent a rabble club. The members were composed of professional men—artists, writers, actors, and those curious individuals who form a tail-light to the arts, being bracketed on as a kind of chorus. These latter always appeared to be well provided with money and ill provided with brains. They knew the names of many stage people, and reeled them off one after another as a parrot delivers its limited vocabulary. Seemingly they derived much pleasure from the practice, and their happiest conversational circumstance was to mention some one whose name they had never introduced before. Wynne made unto himself an enemy of this section of the rabble by a chance remark on an occasion when he happened to be in their midst. “I suppose,” he said, “you collect names as more intellectual folk collect cigar bands.” As invariably was the case he was rather pleased with himself for producing this remark. It suggested a line of thought, and shortly afterwards he produced an article entitled “Men and their Talk.” The article, which boasted a lemon wit, appeared in the _Monday Review_, and offended many people. “The average man,” he wrote, “has but four topics of conversation which he considers worthy of discussion. 1. His relation to other men’s wives. 2. His prowess at sport. 3. The names of restaurants at which he would have us believe he dines. 4. His capacity for consuming liquor. Of these subjects Nos. 1 and 4 are usually taken in conjunction. Thus, before we are privileged to hear the more intimate passages of his amours, we are obliged to follow the assuaging of his thirst from double cocktail to treble liqueur. A nice balance in self-satisfaction is proved by a man’s pride in what he drinks and how he loves.” Then, in another paragraph: “The average man is not proud of resisting the temptations of the flesh, but is always proud of yielding to them. Whenever men are gathered together you will hear them speak in admiration of what our moral code forbids, but you will not hear them boast of their fidelity. Many a faithful husband lies of infidelity that he may stand even with his fellows.” Of all the criticisms provoked by this article Wynne was best pleased by one from a brother member, who announced that it was “an infernal breach of confidence.” The club made serious inroads on Wynne’s finances, for no matter how abstemious a man may be, he cannot rub shoulders with his own kind without a certain amount of wear on his pocket linings. In consequence, Eve was obliged to cut things very fine and forego every atom of personal expenditure.