ess, whereas in
thinking for oneself so many points occur which cannot be passed over
till they have been wrestled with and vanquished. Now yesterday, for
instance, some very stiff problems occurred to me--as thus: Can a man
justly lay claim to merit for the talents he possesses, and is it
immodest of him to let others perceive by his conversation that he is
quite aware he possesses them? Or, on the contrary, is not the fact
that he is talented purely a piece of good fortune, and would it not
be the merest humbug on his part to pretend to be blind to it? Again,
if a man performs what is called a good deed, ought he to claim merit
for that? Does not the performance of such a deed give one pleasure,
and is not that pleasure the real end in view? It has struck me of
late that on such points there's a great confusion of thinking, and
between ourselves, Morgan, I've been lately arriving at conclusions
that most people would call revolutionary and dangerous. But I set
truth above all things, and I can't do better than devote my remaining
years to its service. Now, I think I have really sufficient material
for an original and interesting volume. I have been a man of affairs
all my days, and I think the views of such a man who has lived in
contact with the world should at least be as valuable as those of a
college professor who has been secluded from it. It is really about
this volume I propose to write that I want to consult you. I have made
a memorandum of a few points I should like to thresh out thoroughly
with you."

Morgan was rather startled at this sudden and serious awakening of
literary ambition in his father, though he had before now had many a
hint that he was wrestling with formidable ethical and moral
difficulties. He could see Archibald had set his heart on writing the
book, so he could not do otherwise than encourage him. It would simply
keep him enjoyably occupied, and, as the task would no doubt cause him
to dip into accredited works on ethical science, he would ultimately
discover that the problems he had chanced upon were not quite so
original as he supposed.

But even while Morgan discussed the idea with his father, he had a
curious dream-like consciousness of his own affairs, which somehow
seemed to be retarded by this appearance of the banker in London. And,
all the time he was endeavoring to concentrate himself on the
conversation, he was aware of that floating vision which had never
ceased to haunt hi