l
even _his_ reputation; anxious not for himself but for others, ready to
sacrifice self indeed at any moment, cheerfully, for the sake of those
whom he had undertaken to rescue; struggling on against fanatic courage
without, and weakness, frailty, half-heartedness within; seeing the
hearts of those in whom he was forced to trust grow fainter and fainter
by degrees, in spite of his constant struggles against the effects of
hope deferred upon them.

And then, when the reward was just within his reach--not personal
honours, for which he cared so little, but what to him was the dearest
object, the rescue of those whom he had undertaken to save if possible--
to lose all by treachery, the treason of those he had trusted and
forgiven.

"Trust makes troth," says the proverb, and Gordon had proved the truth
of it again and again.

But it failed him; the endurance of some who had long wavered was now
quite worn-out, and so he was killed, and all his heroic work nullified,
all those who had depended on his efforts for safety being destroyed
with him. It was a perfectly maddening thought that the ship should
founder thus in the entrance of the harbour; that after so many tedious
marches, thirst-sufferings, struggles against the forces of nature,
desperate battles, and wide-spread misery and wretchedness, they should
be just a couple of days too late.

So little would have done it. A week's earlier start, a little more
energy in some clerk, tailor, bootmaker, shipwright--who knows?

The mind seems forced in such a case to try and fix blame upon somebody.
There was no redeeming feature for the most persevering maker of the
best of things to turn to Experience gained? There was no use in it,
for Gordons do not crop up every century.

His example? The lesson of it was spoiled, since his devotion resulted
in failure, and he died in the bitterness of feeling that his efforts
had not been appreciated, and that he had been but lukewarmly supported.

We do not mean to imply that this was so. History must judge of that.
We know only partial facts, and our judgment must also necessarily be
affected by our feelings. But it is to be feared that it seemed so to
him.

The moon rose, and gloomy thoughts were lightened. There was no enemy
in sight, and talk began to circulate amongst the men. Captain Reece,
for his part, was inclined to forget everything else in his delight at
having given the enemy the slip. To have carried out