four o'clock in the morning
Later I have held him on my knee and told him stories of an elevating nature -- mostly of my own composition -- and have afterwards put these down upon paper and sold them to syndicates at great profit . So that , in a sense , I am beholden to Barkis for some measure of my prosperity . Then , when Barkis grew older , I taught him the most approved methods of burning his fingers on the Fourth of July , and when he went to college I am convinced that he gained material aid from me in that I loaned him my college scrap-books , which contained , among other things , a large number of examination papers which I marvel greatly to-day that I was ever able successfully to pass , and which gave to him some hint as to the ordeal he was about to go through . In his younger professional days , also , I have been Barkis 's friend , and have called him up , to minister to a pain I never had , at four o'clock in the morning , simply because I had reason to believe that he needed four or five dollars to carry him through the ensuing hours of the day . Quotation books have told us that in love , as well as in war , all is fair , and if this be true Barkis 's ingratitude , the narration of which can not now give pain to any one , becomes , after all , nothing more than a venial offence . I do not place much reliance upon the ethics of quotation books generally , but when I remember my own young days , and the things I did to discredit the other fellow in that little affair which has brought so much happiness into my own life , I am inclined to nail my flag to the masthead in defence of the principle that lovers can do no wrong . It is no ordinary stake that a lover plays for , and if he stacks the cards , and in other ways turns his back upon the guiding principles of his life , blameworthy as he may be , I shall not blame him , but shall incline rather towards applause .