lectual world has
degrees of latitude and longitude which determine every man's location.
Emancipated from the forces I have described, my son has risen to a
level beyond the attainment of men under ordinary conditions. Hypocrisy
and deceit are things of which he knows nothing. I do not ascribe to
him, mind you, the possession of saintly virtues. He is a man in whom
the best potentialities of mind and body have been developed. I have
carefully avoided the danger of making him a morbid, spiritual creature.
His body is quite as wonderful as his mind."

My uncle had been pacing restlessly up and down the room as he spoke,
often pausing before me and uttering his words vehemently, with quick
gestures and flashing eyes. He did not, seemingly, expect an answer to
his remark, for, as he ceased speaking, he stepped before one of the
windows and stood for a moment looking out upon the courtyard.

"See!" said he suddenly, motioning to me.

I stepped to his side and, looking through the window, saw Rayel running
across the lawn with the lion on his shoulders. When the beast sprang
down he seized it by the mane and tossed it about like one with the
strength of Hercules. Here was a man who exercised his rightful dominion
over animated nature!

"The beast is very fond of him," said my uncle, "and a movement of his
finger is sufficient to control it."

"Why did you adopt a pet so terrible?" I asked.

"To secure isolation," he answered. "He's an object of terror to
intruders, and a source of delight to us."

"You have snakes here, too," I ventured.

"Yes, and for the same reason, But they can't harm you now. Since you
came we have killed them. They have been good friends to me, but you
were a stranger, and your life would have been in danger every day.
Years ago I procured a score of them from the mountains of Pennsylvania
and put them into the thickets. They multiplied like rats, and so I was
armed against invasion.

"To prevent their escape I sank a screen of wire two feet below the
ground along the base of the walls; I also posted a warning inside my
gate. Long ago I began to destroy them, and there were only a few left
when you came. They were good friends to me--excellent friends!" he
repeated, rubbing his hands with a grim smile. "For eighteen years I
have been able to carry on my work unmolested. No knowledge of what was
transpiring outside this little world has ever reached me."

"How did you begin the work of teach