patible with the giving away of
whole mornings to musical dreams at the piano, or to rambles in the
woods, a book of poetry in hand. The explanation was to the effect that
the great prizes of the world are all within the reach of every clever
lad who starts with a sufficiency of means and is not afraid of work;
and that he himself--none other--possessed abilities which would justify
him in aiming at the very highest. But he must work: he must work: he
had been to no school and knew nothing of competitions with other
fellows: he must make up for that by hard grind. Think what it may mean
to a young fellow of imagination and of dreams, this throwing open of
the gates of the Temple of Ambition--this invitation to mount the steps
and enter that great and glittering dome. The temple, within, is all
glorious with crowns of gold set with precious stones and with crowns
of bay and laurel. Day and night ascends a hymn in praise of the living;
they themselves--the living who have succeeded--sit on thrones of carved
woodwork precious beyond price, and hear and receive this homage all day
long. This lad, only by looking in at the open doors, gasped, and
blushed, and panted; his colour came and went, his heart beat; he could
not stand still.

His companion--they were in a country garden, and it was the spring of
the year--was a girl of fifteen, who hung upon his words and adored him.
Some women begin the voluntary servitude to the man they love at a very
early age indeed. Nelly at fifteen loved this boy of seventeen as much
as if they had both been ten years older.

"Yes," she said, timidly, and the manner of her saying it betrayed
certain things. "And you will work, Will, won't you?"

"Work? Nell, since your father has spoken those words of encouragement,
I feel that there is nothing but work left in me--regular
work--methodical, systematic work, you know. Grind, grind, grind! No
more music, no more singing, no more making rhymes--grind, grind, grind!
I say, Nell, I've always dreamed, you know----"

"You have, Will."

"And to find that things may actually come true--actually--the finest
things that ever I dared to dream--oh!"

"It is wonderful, Will!" Both of them began to think that the finest
things had already been achieved.

"It is like having your fortune doubled--trebled--multiplied by ten.
Better. If my fortune were multiplied by fifty I could spend no more, I
could eat no more, I believe I could do no more with it."