DARK PROBLEMS 181

you see that coffin1 ? * says the friend, * well,
the man in that coffin is the only man now on
the Avenue who's not a gangster. And why?
Because he's a corpse. Another gangster shot
him/ "

Such was the barber's " attitude towards life/*
whatever that may mean. We are all in the
game: so why make a fuss? But for those
who lack the barber's philosophy the conclusion
will be different.

I was walking to-day on Chicago's waterfront,
the shining expanse of Lake Michigan on the
one side; on the other, miles of stately buildings
well set back from the Lake, " the finest skyline
in the world." It seemed to me a mask. Behind
these splendours roll the four infernal rivers,

" Abhorred Styx^ the flood of deadly hate;
Sad Acheron^ of sorrow black and deep;
CocytuS) named of lamentation loud
Heard on the rueful stream; fierce Phlegethon
Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage"

And beyond these four another, of whose for-
bidden waters a draught would often be welcome
in the midst of these dark problems:

1 Perhaps he said " casket." The " long box " usually goes
by that name in America. In like manner an undertaker is a
" mortician" and an undertaker's shop " a funeral home."
"Which makes the affair more comfortable.