ll unbeknownst; like a Brownie. I _have_
been worrying lately. The boy's clean gone on his blessed idea. No
reasoning with him; and the modern father doesn't venture to command!
It's as much as his place is worth! Yet _we_ see the hidden dangers
clearer than he can. Wouldn't it be wiser to apply the curb discreetly
before he slips off into an atmosphere where all the influences will tug
one way?"

It was the sane masculine wisdom of the West. But hers--that was
feminine and of the East--went deeper.

"Perhaps it is mother-weakness," she said, leaning against him and
looking away at a purple cloud that hung low over the moor. "But it
seems to me, by putting on the curb, you keep only his body from those
influences. They would tug all the stronger in his soul. Not healthy and
alive with joy of action, but cramped up and aching, like your legs when
there is no room to stretch them. Then there would come impatience,
turning his heart more to India, more away from you. Father had that
kind of thwarting when young--so I know. Dearest one, am I too foolish?"

"You are my Wisest of Wise.--Is there more?"

"Yes. It is this. Perhaps, through being young and eager, he will make
mistakes; wander too far. But even if he should wander to farthest end,
all influence will _not_ tug one way. He will carry in his heart the
star of you and the star of me. These will shine brighter if he knows
how we longed--for ourselves--to keep him here; yet, for himself, we let
him go. I have remembered always one line of poetry you showed me at
Como. 'To take by leaving, To hold by letting go.' That is true truth
for many things. But for parents truest of all."

High counsel indeed! Good to hear; hard to act upon. Nevil
Sinclair--knowing they would act upon it--let out an involuntary sigh
and tightened his hold of the gentle, adoring woman, whose spirit
towered so far above his own.

"Lilamani--you've won," he said, after a perceptible pause. "You deserve
to win--and Roy will bless you. It's the high privilege of Mothers, I
suppose, to conjure the moon out of heaven for their sons."

"Sometimes, by doing so, they nearly break their hearts," she answered
very low.

He stooped and kissed her. "Keep yours intact--for me. I shall need it."
Her fingers closed convulsively on his--"England will seem sort of
empty--without Roy. Is he dead keen on going this autumn?"

"Yes--I am afraid. A little because of young impatience. A little
because he is t