ons of
independence--namely, a good income from the rise of stocks in the
Fortunate Islands, and two souls and two hearts doing the same sort of
thing at the same time, with complete and unqualified success, in that
sweet rose-garden on the sunny slope to the southward.

That was the way life went with Captain Jason of the Argonauts, called
John, for short, in Dreamland, while the crew growled a good deal at
their ill-luck, and began to fear that if things went on in that way
much longer they would have more fasts than Fridays in the week. Those
were trying times for all of them, and when land was made at last, and
it proved to be a temptation and a snare, Jason ordered a special fast
and a mass for the salvation of the souls in imminent peril. Out in
the world at last, thousands of miles from the unsophisticated
people of Dreamland, Jason beheld the dread Symplegades rocking their
enormous bulks upon the waves, and liable at any moment to swing
together with a terrific and deadly crash. Probably they were whales
at play: it may have been two currents of the sea rushing into
each other's arms: at all events, it was something deluding, though
temporary, and perhaps the selfsame difficulty experienced by the
original J. when he went after the original fleece.

My hero was young and unschooled in the world's wickedness, but he
knew that where two opposing elements come together with much force,
whatever happens to lie between them must suffer. What should be done
was a question of no little importance to the Argonauts. Most of
them were in favor of running the risk of a collision and letting the
vessel drive straight through. Jason thought this a judgment worthy
of young men whose lady-loves give expression to their most sacred
sentiments by gifts of pincushions and bookmarks. But he had something
to consider more than they--yea, more than any other living man--in
exemplification of the pleasing fallacy that besets all lovers in all
ages. Blessed be God that it is so!

The original Jason in the fable let loose a dove upon the waters, and
the dove lost only a tail-feather or two when the clashing islands
clashed their worst, and in the moment of the rebound the Argo swept
through in safety. The modern J. thought of this in his predicament,
and having turned it in his mind, he concluded that whereas the
pioneer Argonaut did not meet his princess till after his encounter
with the elements, he was not worthy of consideratio