No, it was not the story he had listened to which kept him wakeful. It
was not the rights or wrongs, or the significance of it, that inspired
his unrest. It was something of a far more personal note.

It was the full awakening of a mind and heart to a true understanding
of themselves. And the manner of his awakening had been little short
of staggering. He loved, and his love had risen up before his eyes in
a manner the full meaning of which he had only just realized. It was
his friend who had brought about his awakening, his friend who had put
into brief words that which had been to him nothing but a delicious
dream.

The man's words rang through his brain the night long.

"Why? Why?" they said. "Because you love this little Joan, daughter of
my greatest friend. Because I owe it to you--to her, to face my
accusers and prove my innocence."

That brief passionate declaration had changed the whole outlook of his
life. The old days, the old thoughts, the old unexpressed feelings and
hazy ambitions had gone--swept away in one wave of absorbing passion.
There was neither future nor past to him now. He lived in the thought
of this woman's delightful presence, and beyond that he could see
nothing.

Vaguely he knew that much must lay before him. The past, well, that
was nothing. He understood that the drift of life's stream could no
longer carry him along without his own effort at guidance. He knew
that somewhere beyond this dream a great battle of Life lay waiting
for his participation. He felt that henceforth he was one of those
struggling units he had always regarded as outside his life. And all
because of this wonderful sunlight of love which shone deep into the
remotest cells of brain and heart. He felt strong for whatever lay
before him. This perfect sunshine, so harmonious with every feeling,
thrilled him with a virile longing to go out and proclaim his defiance
against the waiting hordes in Life's eternal battle. No road could be
so rough as to leave him shrinking, no fight so fierce that he was not
confident of victory, no trouble so great that it could not be borne
with perfect cheerfulness. As he had awakened to love so had he
awakened to life, yearning and eager.

As the long night wore on his thought became clearer, more definite.
So that before his eyes closed at last in a broken slumber he came to
many decisions for the immediate future. The greatest, the most
momentous of these was that he must see Joan