eld him steady in his fight. It was
not depression that possessed him at the worst, but the violence of an
appetite most like a raging pain which men may endure with a smile upon
their lips. He carried in his face the story of a conflict, the aftermath
of bitter experience; and through all there pulsed the glow of experience.
He had grown handsomer, and the graceful decision of his figure, the
deliberate certainty of every action, heightened the force of a singular
personality. As in the eyes of Sally, in his eyes was a long, reflective
look which told of things overcome, and yet of dangers present. His lips
smiled often, but the eyes said: "I have lived, I have seen, I have
suffered, and I must suffer more. I have loved, I have been loved under
the shadow of the sword. Happiness I have had, and golden hours, but not
peace--never peace. My soul has need of peace."

In the greater, deeper experience of their lives, the more material side
of existence had grown less and less to them. Their home was a model of
simple comfort and some luxury, though Jim had insisted that Sally's
income should not be spent, except upon the child, and should be saved for
the child, their home being kept on his pay and on the tiny income left by
his mother. With the help of an Indian girl, and a half-breed for out-door
work and fires and gardening, Sally had cared for the house herself.
Ingenious and tasteful, with a gift for cooking and an educated hand, she
had made her little home as pretty as their few possessions would permit.
Refinement covered all, and three or four score books were like so many
friends to comfort her when Jim was away; like kind and genial neighbors
when he was at home. From Browning she had written down in her long,
sliding handwriting, and hung up beneath Jim's looking-glass, the
heartening and inspiring words:

"One who never turned his back, but marched breast
forward,
Never doubted clouds would break,
Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would
triumph,
Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better,
Sleep to wake."

They had lived above the sordid, and there was something in the nature of
Jim's life to help them to it. He belonged to a small handful of men who
had control over an empire, with an individual responsibility and
influence not contained in the scope of their commissions. It was a matter
of moral force and charact