gdom of heaven is that {46} he has
that false sense of security. To demand it just disintegrates a man. I
don't know why. It does."

Oliver shook his head uncertainly.

"I don't quite follow, sir. Ought n't one to try to be safe?"

"One ought to try, yes. That is common prudence. But the point is
that, whatever you do or get, you are n't after all secure. There is
no such condition, and the harder you demand it, the more risk you
run. So it is up to a man to take all reasonable precautions about his
money, or his happiness, or his life, and trust the rest. What every
man in the world is looking for is the sense of having the mastery
over life. But I tell you, boy, there is only one thing that really
gives it!"

"And that is--?"

Lannithorne hesitated perceptibly. For the thing he was about to tell
this {47} undisciplined lad was his most precious possession; it was
the piece of wisdom for which he had paid with the years of his life.
No man parts lightly with such knowledge.

"It comes," he said, with an effort, "with the knowledge of our power
to endure. That's it. _You are safe only when you can stand everything
that can happen to you._ Then and then only! Endurance is the measure
of a man."

Oliver's heart swelled within him as he listened, and his face shone,
for these words found his young soul where it lived. The chasms and
abysses in his path suddenly vanished, and the road lay clear again,
winding uphill, winding down, but always lit for Ruth and him by the
light in each other's eyes. For surely neither Ruth nor he could ever
fail in courage!

"Sometimes I think it is harder to {48} endure what we deserve, like
me," said Lannithorne, "than what we don't. I was afraid, you see,
afraid for my wife and all of them. Anyhow, take my word for it.
Courage is security. There is no other kind."

"Then--Ruth and I--"

"Ruth is the core of my heart!" said Lannithorne thickly. "I would
rather die than have her suffer more than she must. But she must take
her chances like the rest. It is the law of things. If you know
yourself fit for her, and feel reasonably sure you can take care of
her, you have a right to trust the future. Myself, I believe there is
Some One to trust it to. As for the next generation, God and the
mothers look after that! You may tell your father so from me. And you
may tell my wife I think there is the stuff of a man in you. And
Ruth--tell Ruth--"

{49}

He could not finish. Oliver reac