boy's
life was illumined and glorified by one presence. God in his bounty had
given him a mother!"

It was the first time in any discourse that he had mentioned the supreme
Name, and as if conscious of the tremor it aroused, he continued his
narrative without pause.

"To say that a boy's life is made happier by his mother's existence
sounds too trite and obvious to bear any weight; but it is through the
obvious facts of life that the world's machinery is kept in motion. The
inexpressible, unwearying tenderness of this mother for her son, the
love of this boy for his mother, grew with the passage of time--grew
into something so significant, so vital and so deep, that even the
poisonous atmosphere of the alley could not thwart its growth.

"This feeling grew in the boy's heart; and with it--by a necessary law
of nature--another feeling took root and grew also. Fired by stories of
a past, in which wealth and position had been won by his forefathers, he
conceived the idea of becoming in his own person a hero--a
knight-errant. And in the grimy, common alley; in the poor, bare
sitting-room where his mother sewed unendingly; in the dark closet under
the slates where at night he dreamed his child's dreams, he built
castles such as never stood upon the hills of Spain!

"The germ of his ambition fell into his soul like a seed of fire; and,
like a seed of fire, sprang into a flame. At whatever price--at whatever
sacrifice--there must be a golden future, in which the mother he adored
would sit in high places; in which the worn hands would never ply a
needle except for pastime, the frail figure grow straight and strong,
the pale face warm and brighten with the colors of health!

"It was a very humble, a very young ambition, but it sprang from the
true, clean source of untainted love, like which there is nothing else
in all the world." He paused; and from his grave voice it seemed that a
wave of emotion passed across the chapel. The congregation, too
fascinated by his words to question their meaning, drew a sigh of rapt
anticipation. Enid, amazed, bewildered, moved beyond herself, sat
immovable--her face pale, her great eyes fixed upon the Throne. Only the
six Arch-Mystics stirred uneasily, glancing at each other with quiet,
uncertain looks.

Presently, as though he had marshalled his ideas for the continuation of
his speech, the Prophet raised his hand.

"My People," he began, again, "do not think that I am going to compel