or feeling in the whole of his
nature. Temptation? He barely understood the word, because he was so
naturally wholesome.

But more than these things it was the memory of that which, since his
earliest youth, had looked back at him out of the mirror, that robbed
Charlie Bryant of so much peace now. That, and the weakness which
seemed to fit the vision so well. Whereas Bill, this child of the same
parents, was all that might be, his own form and manner made him
shudder as he thought of them. Then there was that devil haunting him,
and from whom there seemed to be no escape.

How could he ever hope that Kate Seton would do more than lend her
strong, pitying affection for his support? How could she ever look to
him for support and guidance? His sense of proportion was far too
acute to permit so grievous an error.

In some perverse way his mentality was abnormally acute. He saw
with eyes which were inspired by a brain capable of vast achievement,
but which possessed none of that equipoise so necessary for a
well-balanced manhood. And it told him all that, and forced conviction
upon him. It told him so much of that which no man should believe
until it be thrust upon him overwhelmingly by the bitter experiences
of life. His whole brain was permeated by a pessimism forced upon him
by a morbid introspection, resulting from an undue appreciation of his
own physical and moral shortcomings.

Yet with it all he bore no resentment except against the perversity of
such a lot as his. And in this lay the germ of a self-pity, which is a
specter to be dreaded more than anything else in life. While deploring
the conditions under which he must live, robbed, as he believed he was
robbed, of the possibility of winning for himself all those things
which belong to the manhood really existing beneath his exterior of
denial, he yet felt he would rather have his bread divided than be
denied that trifling food which made it possible for him to go on
living.

Kate's tender pity, Kate's warmth of affection, an affection she might
even bestow upon some pet animal, was preferable to that she should
shut him entirely out of her life. It left him free to drink in the
dregs of happiness, although the nectar itself was denied him.

He could accept such conditions. Yes, he could almost be satisfied
with them, since he believed no others to be forthcoming. But, and a
dark fury of jealousy flooded his heart as he thought, he could not
witness another