they
always will if we give them the chance they seek. Out of his fearful
dejection arose a manlier, nobler spirit, which betrayed itself in his
look and manner. He rose from the stool, walked twice across the narrow
office floor out to the warehouse, and finally down-stairs. In a word,
he took an inventory of the whole place, and it suddenly came home to
him, with a new accession of hope and strength, that it was his--that he
was absolutely monarch of all he surveyed, and could make or mar it as
he willed. It was not a stupendous heritage, but to one nameless and
unknown it was much. Nay, it was his opportunity--the tide in his
affairs which might lead him on to fortune. Wandering the length and
breadth of his kingdom--only a drysalter's warehouse, but still his
kingdom--hope took to herself white wings again, and, fluttering over
him, built for him many a castle in the air--castles high enough to
reach the skies. Then and there Walter Hepburn took courage and began to
face his life--laid his plans, which had for its reward a maiden's smile
and a maiden's heart. And for these men have conquered the world before,
and will again. Love still rules, and will, thanks be to God, till the
world is done.

Meanwhile Gladys, all unconscious alike of his deep dejection and his
happier mood, sat quite silently in the corner of the luxurious
carriage, her eyes dim with tears. Her kind friend, noticing that she
was moved, left her in peace. Her sympathy was true, and could be
quiet, and that is much.

'Suppose you sit up and look out, my dear?' she said at last. 'We are
crossing Kelvin Bridge. Have you been as far West before?'

Gladys sat up obediently, and looked from the carriage window upon the
river tumbling between its banks.

'Is this Glasgow?' she asked, wondering to see the trees waving greenly
in the gentle April breeze.

'Yes, my dear, of course; and we are almost home. I am sure you will be
glad, you look so tired,' said Mrs. Fordyce kindly. 'Never mind; you
shall have a cup of tea immediately, and then you shall lie down and
sleep as long as you like.'

'Oh, I never sleep in the day-time, thank you,' said Gladys; and as the
carriage swept along a handsome terrace and into Bellairs Crescent,
where the gardens were green with all the beauty of earliest summer, her
face visibly brightened.

'It is quite like the country,' she said. 'I cannot believe it is
Glasgow.'

'Sometimes we feel it dingy enough, my love. W