refused; and it became somewhat
plain to me that I was beginning to be a failure.

"A cousin of mine, the only relative I had, died in Chicago, and I went
to his funeral. I happened to hear of the Carlow 'Herald' through an
agent there, the most eloquent gentleman I ever met. I was younger, and
even more thoughtless than now, and I had a little money and I handed it
over for the 'Herald.' I wanted to run a paper myself, and to build up a
power! And then, though I only lived here the first few years of my
life and all the rest of it had been spent in the East, I was born in
Indiana, and, in a way, the thought of coming back to a life-work in my
native State appealed to me. I always had a dim sort of feeling that
the people out in these parts knew more--had more sense and were less
artificial, I mean--and were kinder, and tried less to be somebody else,
than almost any other people anywhere. And I believe it's so. It's dull,
here in Carlow, of course--that is, it used to be. The agent explained
that I could make the paper a daily at once, with an enormous
circulation in the country. I was very, very young. Then I came here and
saw what I had got. Possibly it is because I am sensitive that I never
let Tom know. They expected me to amount to something; but I don't
believe his welcome would be less hearty to a failure--he is a good
heart."

"Failure!" she cried, and clapped her hands and laughed.

"I'm really not very tragic about it, though I must seem consumed with
self-pity," he returned, smiling. "It is only that I have dropped out of
the world while Tom is still in it."

"Dropped out of the world!'" she echoed, impatiently. "Can't you see
you've dropped into it? That you----"

"Last night I was honored by your praise of my graceful mode of quitting
it!"

"And so you wish me to be consistent!" she retorted scornfully. "What
becomes of your gallantry when _we_ abide by reason?"

"True enough; equality is a denial of privilege."

"And privilege is a denial of equality. I don't like that at all."
She turned a serious, suddenly illuminated face upon him and spoke
earnestly. "It's my hobby, I should tell you, and I'm very tired of that
nonsense about 'women always sounding the personal note.' It _should_
be sounded as we would sound it. And I think we could bear the loss of
'privilege'--"

He laughed and raised a protesting hand. "But _we_ couldn't."

"No, you couldn't; it's the ribbon of superiority in your butto