n the finest, noblest sense with whom through life he has got
to settle. It may be an Ambition, or a Passion, or a Temptation, or a
Virtue, what you will, but with that Beast he's got to live. Now it's
according to his dealings with the Beast that the man's great or no. If
he faces the Beast--and the Beast is generally something that a man
knows about himself that nobody else knows--the Beast can be used,
magnificently used. If he's afraid, pretends the Tiger isn't there,
builds up walls, hides in cities, does what you will, then he must be
prepared for a life of incessant alarm, and he may be sure that at some
moment or another the Tiger will make his spring--then there'll be a
crisis!

"Over here in England you're hiding your Tigers all the time. That's why
you're muddled--about Art, Literature, Government, everything that
matters--and an old woman like the Duchess of Wrexe--sharp enough
herself, mind you--uses all of you.

"No Beaminster has ever faced his or her Tiger yet, and they're down,
like knives, on everyone who does and everything that shows the Tiger's
bright eyes----

"But I see--oh, Lord! I see--a time coming, yes, here in England, when
the Individual, the great man, is coming through, when the Duchess will
be dead and the Beaminster driven from power and every man with his
Tiger there in front of him, faced and trained, will have his chance--

"More brain, more courage, no muddle--God help the day!"

"You see things moving--everywhere?"

"Everywhere. These fellows, Randall and the rest, are bringing their
Tigers with 'em. They're going to put them there for all the world to
see. It's only another party out against the Duchess, _she_ wants all
the Tigers hidden--only herself to know about them--then she can do her
work. She'll hate these fellows until they've made their stand and then
she'll try to adopt them in order to muzzle them the better in the end.

"If Westcott hides his Tiger, forgets he's there, his way's plain
enough. He'll make money, the Duchess will ask him to tea. Let him join
these fellows and his Tiger may tear all his present self to pieces."

"What about yourself, Brun?"

"Oh, I'm nothing! I'm the one great exception. No Tiger thinks me worth
while. I merely observe, I don't feel--and you have to feel to keep your
Tiger alive."

Brun's little lecture was over. He suddenly drew his body together,
clapped his mental hands to dismiss the whole thing and was drawing
Westcott to