{"id":"01KG8AKGZ3MPM7G1WDKZNKQD24","cid":"bafkreib2r52bulcq6gfmnld3iw47nbmvaihakwj2dqywkfoj3iy26quztm","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":1817,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:05.590Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1DKC9HHJRKY25JZBEXW","start_line":1737,"text":"“_Seine_”—interrupted the Doctor, giving the French\r\npronunciation.—“Always get a new word right in the first place, my\r\nfriend, and you will never get it wrong afterwards.”\r\n\r\n“Well, I was crossing the bridge there, and who should hail me, but a\r\nsuspicious-looking man, who, under pretence of seeking to polish my\r\nboots, wanted slyly to unscrew their heels, and so steal all these\r\nprecious papers I’ve brought you.”\r\n\r\n“My good friend,” said the man of gravity, glancing scrutinizingly upon\r\nhis guest, “have you not in your time, undergone what they call hard\r\ntimes? Been set upon, and persecuted, and very illy entreated by some\r\nof your fellow-creatures?”\r\n\r\n“That I have, Doctor; yes, indeed.”\r\n\r\n“I thought so. Sad usage has made you sadly suspicious, my honest\r\nfriend. An indiscriminate distrust of human nature is the worst\r\nconsequence of a miserable condition, whether brought about by\r\ninnocence or guilt. And though want of suspicion more than want of\r\nsense, sometimes leads a man into harm, yet too much suspicion is as\r\nbad as too little sense. The man you met, my friend, most probably had\r\nno artful intention; he knew just nothing about you or your heels; he\r\nsimply wanted to earn two sous by brushing your boots. Those\r\nblacking-men regularly station themselves on the bridge.”\r\n\r\n“How sorry I am then that I knocked over his box, and then ran away.\r\nBut he didn’t catch me.”\r\n\r\n“How? surely, my honest friend, you—appointed to the conveyance of\r\nimportant secret dispatches—did not act so imprudently as to kick over\r\nan innocent man’s box in the public streets of the capital, to which\r\nyou had been especially sent?”\r\n\r\n“Yes, I did, Doctor.”\r\n\r\n“Never act so unwisely again. If the police had got hold of you, think\r\nof what might have ensued.”\r\n\r\n“Well, it was not very wise of me, that’s a fact, Doctor. But, you see,\r\nI thought he meant mischief.”\r\n\r\n“And because you only thought he _meant_ mischief, _you_ must\r\nstraightway proceed to _do_ mischief. That’s poor logic. But think over\r\nwhat I have told you now, while I look over these papers.”\r\n\r\nIn half an hour’s time, the Doctor, laying down the documents, again\r\nturned towards Israel, and removing his spectacles very placidly,\r\nproceeded in the kindest and most familiar manner to read him a\r\npaternal detailed lesson upon the ill-advised act he had been guilty\r\nof, upon the Pont Neuf; concluding by taking out his purse, and putting\r\nthree small silver coins into Israel’s hands, charging him to seek out\r\nthe man that very day, and make both apology and restitution for his\r\nunlucky mistake.\r\n\r\n“All of us, my honest friend,” continued the Doctor, “are subject to\r\nmaking mistakes; so that the chief art of life, is to learn how best to\r\nremedy mistakes. Now one remedy for mistakes is honesty. So pay the man\r\nfor the damage done to his box. And now, who are you, my friend? My\r\ncorrespondents here mention your name—Israel Potter—and say you are an\r\nAmerican, an escaped prisoner of war, but nothing further. I want to\r\nhear your story from your own lips.”\r\n\r\nIsrael immediately began, and related to the Doctor all his adventures\r\nup to the present time.\r\n\r\n“I suppose,” said the Doctor, upon Israel’s concluding, “that you\r\ndesire to return to your friends across the sea?”\r\n\r\n“That I do, Doctor,” said Israel.\r\n\r\n“Well, I think I shall be able to procure you a passage.”\r\n\r\nIsrael’s eyes sparkled with delight. The mild sage noticed it, and\r\nadded: “But events in these times are uncertain. At the prospect of\r\npleasure never be elated; but, without depression, respect the omens of\r\nill. So much my life has taught me, my honest friend.”\r\n\r\nIsrael felt as though a plum-pudding had been thrust under his\r\nnostrils, and then as rapidly withdrawn.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJHFQE8BQF89PD6K8FN70","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1DKC9HHJRKY25JZBEXW","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKGZ3J9BJMF5WTXPF4X2F","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKHKYHB3JYX7VHBP2WAT1","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:07.139Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:14.061Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}