every proverb, every slang phrase and colloquialism, is what one might call a petrified inspiration. once upon a time it was a living thing, a lightning flash in some man's soul; and now it glides off our tongue without our ever thinking of its meaning. so, when the event transpired which marks the beginning of my story, the newspapers one and all remarked that robert van rensselaer was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

into the particular circumstances of the event it is not necessary to go, furthermore than to say that the arrival occasioned considerable discomfort, to the annoyance of my hero's mother, who had never experienced any discomfort before. his father, mr. chauncey van rensselaer, was a respected member of our metropolitan high society, combining the major and minor desiderata[9] of wealth and good-breeding, and residing in a twentieth-century palace at number four thousand eleven hundred and forty-four fifth avenue. at the time of the opening of our story van rensselaer père had fled from the scene of the trouble and was passing the time playing billiards with some sympathetic friends, and when the telephone-bell rang they opened some champagne and drank to the health of van rensselaer fils. later on, when the father stood in the darkened apartment and gazed upon the red and purple mite of life, proud emotions swelled high in his heart, and he vowed that he would make a gentleman of robert van rensselaer,—a gentleman after the pattern of his father.

at the outset of the career of my hero i have to note the amount of attention which he received from the press, and from an anxious public. mr. chauncey van rensselaer was wealthy, according to new york and fifth avenue standards, and baby van rensselaer was provided with an introductory outfit of costumes at an estimated cost[10] of seventeen thousand dollars. i have a file of van rensselaer clippings, and would quote the elaborate descriptions, and preserve them to a grateful posterity; but in the meantime master robert van rensselaer would be grown up. i pass on to the time when he was a growing boy, with two governesses, and several tutors, and a groom, and such other attendants as every boy has to have.