g veil they fell closer over the sleeper.

The dream was ended; all was darkness in the little snow-hut, but the
Bible lay under the sailor's head, faith and hope abode in his heart.
God was with him, and his home was with him, "even in the uttermost
parts of the sea."

"SOMETHING"

By HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN

"I will be Something," declared the eldest of five brothers; "I will be
of use in the world; be it ever so humble a position that I may hold,
let me be but useful, and that will be Something. I will make bricks;
folk cannot do without them, so I shall at least do Something."

"Something very little, though," replied the second brother. "Why, it is
as good as nothing! it is work that might be done by a machine. Better
be a mason, as I intend to be. Then one belongs to a guild, becomes a
citizen, has a banner of one's own. Nay, if all things go well, I may
become a master, and have apprentices and workmen under me. That will be
Something!"

"It will be nothing at all then, I can tell you that!" rejoined the
third. "Think how many different ranks there are in a town far above
that of a master-mason. You may be an honest sort of a man, but you will
never be a gentleman; gentle and simple; those are the two grand
divisions, and you will always be one of the 'simple.' Well, I know
better than that. I will be an architect; I will be one of the thinkers,
the artists; I will raise myself to the aristocracy of intellect. I may
have to begin from the very lowest grade; I may begin as a carpenter's
boy, and run about with a paper-cap on my head, to fetch ale for the
workmen; I may not enjoy it, but I shall try to imagine it is only a
masquerade. 'To-morrow,' I shall say, 'I will go my own way, and others
shall not come near me.' Yes, I shall go to the Academy, learn to draw,
and be called an architect. That will be Something! I may get a title,
perhaps; and I shall build and build, as others before me have done.
Yes, that will be Something!"

"But it is Something that I care nothing about," said the fourth. "I
should not care to go on, on, in the beaten track, to be a mere copyist;
I will be a genius, cleverer than all of you put together; I will create
a new style, provide ideas for buildings suited to the climate and
materials of our country, suited to our national character, and the
requirements of the age."

"But supposing the climate and the materials don't agree," suggested the
fifth, "how will you get