ight always tuned him into a gentle mood, and I even
suspect that he had some sentiment about it. The currents of life, he
said, then ran more serenely, with a slower and healthier pulse-beat;
the unfathomable mysteries of life crowded in upon us; our shallow
individualities were quenched, and our larger human traits rose nearer
to the surface. The best test of sympathy was a night walk; two
persons who then jarred upon each other might safely conclude that
they were constitutionally unsympathetic. He had known silly girls who
in moonlight were sublime; but it was dangerous to build one's hopes
of happiness upon this moonlight sublimity. Just as all complexions,
except positive black, were fair when touched by the radiance of the
night, so all shades of character, except downright wickedness,
borrowed a finer human tinge under this illusory illumination. Thus
ran his talk, I throwing in the necessary expletives, and as I am
neither black nor absolutely wicked, I have reason to believe that I
appeared to good advantage.

"It is very curious about women," he broke forth after a long
meditative pause. "In spite of all my pondering on the subject, I
never quite could understand the secret of their fascination. Their
goodness, if they are good, is usually of the quality of oatmeal, and
when they are bad--"

"'They are horrid,'" I quoted promptly.

"Amen," he added with a contented chuckle. "I never could see the
appropriateness of the Bible precept about coveting your neighbor's
wife," he resumed after another brief silence. "I, for my part, never
found my neighbor's wife worth coveting. But I will admit that I have,
in a few instances, felt inclined to covet my neighbor's child. No
amount of pessimism can quite fortify a man against the desire to have
children. A child is not always a 'thing of beauty,' nor is it apt to
be a 'joy for ever'; but I never yet met the man who would not be
willing to take his chances. It is a confounded thing that the
paternal instinct is so deeply implanted, even in such a piece of
dried-up parchment as myself. It is like discovering a warm, live vein
of throbbing blood under the shrivelled skin of an Egyptian mummy."

We sauntered on for more than an hour, now plunging into dense masses
of shadow, now again emerging into cool pathways of light. The
conversation turned on various topics, all of which Storm touched with
a kindlier humor than was his wont. The world was a failure, but for
al