ished as justifiable. He was fair enough to
admit that he had received what he deserved, on other than professional
grounds, and having reached the lowest depth of unhappiness, he began
to retrace his steps disconsolately toward the college.

A philosopher once said that every man has in him at least one poem
which he could write under the stress of great emotion, and that night
Leigh unconsciously exemplified the truth of the saying. It was near
the dawn when he descended from the tower, having left upon the table
by the telescope this fragmentary record of his vigil.

THE MORNING WATCH

Be resolute, my soul,
And battle till the day,
My strength is manifold,
If only thou art gay;
Since friendship takes its flight,
Since love is far outgrown,
Here, in the silent night,
I watch alone.

And sing a song, my soul,
A bitter song and bright,
While fleeting hours unroll
The enigmatic night;
The saddest souls must sing--
Ah, happy those that weep!
So laugh, till death shall bring
Unending sleep.

Now let me lie in peace
On Nature's passive breast.
Since human love must cease,
And life is all unblest,
And watch the stars outspread
Within the brimming blue--
But Abraham is dead
Who saw them too.

And millions, ages hence,
Shall watch the steady stars,
And question Why and Whence
Behind their prison bars;
But if no love shall give
A light upon the way,
How can they dare to live
Until the day?

CHAPTER XVIII

"TWO SISTER VESSELS"

The January thaw now took on a sinister and unwholesome phase,
preparatory to its final retreat before the onslaught of returning
winter. The heavy snowfall was reduced to a few discoloured streaks
lingering in the deeper ruts and hollows, and the brown earth, never so
unlovely, exhaled faint wreaths of vapour that caused old-fashioned
folk to shake their heads and to speak of full graveyards. The sun
seemed to draw up in the form of mist more and more of the water that
had been soaking into the soil. People moved about in a dank haze,
that rose gradually to the tops of the houses, until by noontime it had
obscured the moist blue sky and turned the sun into a dull-red disk set
in a golden aura. There was something ominous in the strange
atmosphere thus engendered, in the dimming and distorting of
architectural lines, in the muffling of familiar sounds. The
unseasonable conditions resembled