st!'

Again silence, and again the strong, gentle voice:

'God can do much! Oh my dear young friend, you who have been such a
friend to me and mine, think of this.'

'God Himself can do nothing here! It is done! And that is the end!' He
turned his head; it was all he could do to keep from groaning. The old
man's voice vibrated with earnest conviction as he spoke:

'You are young and strong and brave! Your heart is noble! You can think
quickly in moments of peril; therefore your brain is sound and alert.
Now, may I ask you a favour? it is not much. Only that you will listen,
without interruption, to what, if I have your permission, I am going to
say. Do not ask me anything; do not deny; do not interrupt! Only
listen! May I ask this?'

'By all means! It is not much!' he almost felt like smiling as he spoke.
Mr. Stonehouse, after a short pause, as if arranging his thoughts, spoke:

'Let me tell you what I am. I began life with nothing but a fair
education such as all our American boys get. But from a good mother I
got an idea that to be honest was the best of all things; from a
strenuous father, who, however, could not do well for himself, I learned
application to work and how best to use and exercise such powers as were
in me. From the start things prospered with me. Men who knew me trusted
me; some came with offers to share in my enterprise. Thus I had command
of what capital I could use; I was able to undertake great works and to
carry them through. Fortune kept growing and growing; for as I got
wealthier I found newer and larger and more productive uses for my money.
And in all my work I can say before God I never willingly wronged any
man. I am proud to be able to say that my name stands good wherever it
has been used. It may seem egotistical that I say such things of myself.
It may seem bad taste; but I speak because I have a motive in so doing. I
want you to understand at the outset that in my own country, wherever I
am known and in my own work, my name is a strength.'

He paused a while. Harold sat still; he knew that such man would not,
could not, speak in such a way without a strong motive; and to learn that
motive he waited.

'When you were in the water making what headway you could in that awful
sea--when my little child's life hung in the balance, and the anguish of
my wife's heart nearly tore my heart in two, I said to myself, "If we had
a son I should wish him to be like that."