me of all. I shall go into the
House. I shall rise--slowly at first, but steadily."

"And I?"

"You are a log tied to my heel, but you shall be an obedient log. If you
were not--"

Indolence shivered and crouched. "Am I then--all my life--to be your
servant?"

[Illustration: "INDOLENCE SHIVERED."]

"Your life? No--my life." The two glared at each other. "Silence, Log.
Let me work."

"I shall not be silent," cried Indolence, roused to momentary
self-assertion. "I have no enjoyment left in life. You have taken
all--all--"

"You have left what you loved best of all--your sloth. Lie down--and
take your rest. Why, you do nothing all day. A stalled ox is not more
lazy. You eat and drink and take exercise and sleep. What more, for such
as you, has life to give? You are now an animal. My half has absorbed
all the intellectual part of you. Lie down, I say--lie down, and let me
work."

The Animal could not lie down. He was restless. He walked about the
room. He was discontented. He was jealous. The other Half, he saw
plainly, was getting the better share of things. That Half was admired
and envied. By accident, as he paced the room, he looked in the glass;
and he started, for his face had grown heavy: there was a bovine look
about the cheeks: the eyes were dull: the mouth full. Then the other
Half rose and stood beside him. Together they looked at their own faces.
"Ha!" cried Ambition, well satisfied at the contrast. "It works already.
Mine is the face intended for me: yours is the face into which this
degenerate mould might sink. Mine contains the soul; yours--the animal.
You have got what you wanted, Sloth. Your dreams are gone from you. I
have got them, though, and I am turning them into action. As time goes
on, your face will become more bovine, your eyes duller. What will be
the end?" His brow darkened. "I don't know. We are like the Siamese
twins."

"One of them took to drink," murmured the inferior Half. "What if I were
to follow his example?"

"You will not. You do not dare?" But his blanched face showed his terror
at the very thought.

V.

The first step was achieved. The first class was gained. Challice of
Pembroke was second classic; he might have been senior but for the
unaccountable laziness of his first year. He was University scholar,
medallist, prizeman; he was one of the best speakers at the Union. He
was known to be ambitious. He was not popular, however, because he was
liable to strange fit