minding weariness, and even when, footsore and
exhausted, they sank down, they arose to the same enterprise, unshaken
in courage, unbroken in faith. Have you known this?"

"I can scarcely say I have; but as to the longing and pining after a
good turn of fortune, I'll back myself against any one going."

"That's the old story of the child crying for the moon," said she,
laughing. "Now, what was it you longed for so ardently?"

"Can't you guess?"

"You wanted to marry some one who would not have you, or who was beneath
you, or too poor, or too some-thing-or-other for your grand relations?"

"No, not that."

"You aspired to some great distinction as a politician, or a soldier, or
perhaps a sailor?"

"No, by Jove! never dreamed of it," burst he in, laughing at the very
idea.

"You sighed for some advancement in rank, or perhaps it was great
wealth?"

"There you have it! Plenty of money--lots of ready--with that all the
rest comes easy."

"It must be very delightful, no doubt, to indulge every passing caprice,
without ever counting the cost; but, after a while, what a spoilt-child
weariness would come over one from all this cloying enjoyment,--how
tiresome would it be to shorten the journey between will and
accomplishment, and make of life a mere succession of 'tableaux'! I 'd
rather strive and struggle and win."

"Ay, but one does n't always win," broke he in.

"I believe one does--if one deserves it; and even when one does not, the
battle is a fine thing. How much sympathy, I ask you, have we for those
classic heroes who are always helped out of their difficulties by some
friendly deity? What do we feel for him who, in the thick of the fight,
is sure to be rescued by a goddess in a cloud?"

"I confess I do like a good 'book,' 'hedged' well all round, and
standing to win somewhere. I mean," added he, in an explanatory tone, "I
like to be safe in this world."

"Stand on the bank of the stream, then, and let bolder hearts push
across the river!"

"Well, but I 'm rather out of patience," said he, in a tone of half
irritation. "I 've had many a venture in life, and too many of them
unfortunate ones."

"How I do wonder," said she, after a pause, "that you and papa are
such great friends; for I have rarely heard of two people who take
such widely different notions of life. _You_ seem to me all caution and
reserve; _he_, all daring and energy."

"That's the reason, perhaps, we suit each other so well," said