Idolatry

confidential clerk for nearly or quite twenty-five years, was blessed with a good memory, and was fond of saying that he never forgot a face or a

harmonious than massive. A black velveteen jacket fitted closely to his shape; he had on a Tyrolese hat; his boots, of thin, pliant leather, reached above the kn

, with the true hyacinthine curl pervading it. Rejoicing in luxuriant might, it clothed and reclothed the head, and, descending lower, tumbled itself in bold masses on the young man's shoulders. As for the beard, it was well in keeping. Of a purer yellow than the hair

s his strength,-the strength of inborn truth and goodness, whereby he was enabled to smite the lying Philistines. And although they once, by their sophistries, managed to get the better of him for a while, they forgot that good inborn is too vigorous a matter for any mere razor finally to subdue. See, again, what a great beard Saint Paul had, and what an outspoken, vigorous heart! Was it from freak that Greeks and Easterns reverenced beards as symbols of manhood, dignity, and wisdom? or that Chri

ularly inquisitive stare. The visitor's face was a striking one, but can be described, for the present, only in general terms. He might not be called handsome; yet a very handsome man would be apt

d deal less than half Mr. Dyke's age, was yet a far older man of the world than he. Not that his appearance suggested the kind of maturity which results from abnormal or distorted development,-on the contrary, he was th

rom Europe to see Mr. Amos MacGent

strangers implied that he knew, better than they did, who they were and what they wanted; and that

The young man put his hand kindly on the elderly clerk's shoulder, much as though

rdon, Mr. Helwyse, sir,-of course, of course,-it didn't seem possible,-so long, you know,-but I reme

hrew back his head and laughed, perhaps at the clerk's bewildered face. At

k to the President," said Mr. Dyke, and s

to dream; and if awakened suddenly, his dream would often prolong itself, and mingle with passing events, which would themselves put on the semblance

condition. He put his mouth close to the old gentleman's

ho died in Europe two years ago, c

s own bewilderment, he was disappointed. Mr. MacGentle unc

urope, Mr. Dyke? He hasn't been in Europe for six y

consternation written upon his features. Mr. MacGentle found

Ah! you look as well as ever. I was just

mstances in hand. Whether hailing the dawn of the millennium; holding playful converse with a child, making a speech before the Board,-under whatever rhetorical conditions, Mr. MacGentle's intonation was always pitched in the same murmurous and somewhat plaintiv

the matter-as best he could-by surrendering himself entirely to his mournful voice; allowing it to master his gestures, choice of la

rooped back into his chair. But it throws no light upon his remark that he had been expecting the arrival of a friend who, it would appear, had been dead two years. Helwyse himself

e as well as I

n as you, Helwyse. I think I must have passed a bad night. I rememb

ain?" asked the young man, m

ure that I don't wish the dream might have been true. If I were really an o

his fresh, unwrinkled face a mate to your own? and is it but the vision of a restless night,-this long-drawn life of dull routine and gradual disappointment and decay? Open those dim eyes of yours, good sir! stir those thin old legs! inflat

lyphic lately?" inquire

y had captured him on his way to some apocryphal ruin among the sand-heaps. What a grand moment was that when you caught the Sheik round the throat with your umbrella-ha

ng knot of men and horses, the stampede of the three across the plain, and the high su

manner returning. "To that, and to your saving the Egyptian lad,-. Manetho,-you

ctually believes himself to be some old inscription, containing precious secrets, not to be found elsewhere. Before the adventure with the boy, I remember, he had formed the idea of building a miniature Egypt in New Jersey; and Manetho served well as the living human element in it. 'Though I take him to America,' you kn

is unsubstantial face turned meditatively towards the Magdalen, his hands brought together to support his delicate chin.

ok up the Christian religion, instead of following the faith and obse

to Glyphic, believing that it was he who saved him from the crocodile. People are all the time making such absurd mistakes. Manetho is a man who would be unalterable either in gratitude or enmity, although his

hic is still

ch of some undefined difficulty. He passed his white hand over his forehead. "Everything seems out of joint-to-d

e, blindly groping after the phantom of a flower whose bloom and fragrance had vanished so terribly long ago; and yet, for some reason or other he could hardly f

d Mr. MacGentle. "Why not he, as well as

u said you felt tired this morning, but you forget how far you've travelled since we last met. Doctor Glyphic, if he be living now,

dejection, the visitor could not decide. But when Mr. MacGentle spoke, it was with more assurance. Either from mortification at his illusion, or more probably from imperfect perce

ranch of our house, that Thor H

the Baltic Sea. I

gnet to attract the son's heart. "You look very much like him, only his eyes we

en," rejoined Balder

ost welcome!" said Mr. MacGentl

I am a very old man, Mr. Balder; so old that sometimes I beli

I think my father was glad to follow them. I never saw him in better

know,-I know; he was never ga

the wheel. I think he never cared to see land again, but he was f

the side, and struck him overboard. I went after him. Another wave brought me bac

tory, became husky, and Mr. MacGentle's ey

way and that all day, and falls at sunset, no one knows how. Thor died as became him; and I shall die a

is wisdom to be indifferent to unstrained sympathy. He went on to s

tion and antiquity, and inherited the restless spirit of his ancestors. In the course of his early wanderings he had fallen in with MacGentle, who, though somewhat older than Helwyse, was still a young man; and later these two had encountered Hiero Glyphic. About fifteen years after this it was that Thor appeared at Gly

s story, as told by him, began. He seemed to have matured very early, and to have taken hold of knowledge in all its branches like a Titan. The precise age at which he had learned all that European schools could teach him, it is not necessary to specify; since it is rather with the nature of his min

well as low as he pleased,-to dine with English dukes or with Russian serfs. But a fine chastity inherent in his Northern blood had, whatever were his moral convictions, kept him from the mire; and the sudden death of his father had given him a graver turn than was normal to his years. M

added, "and I supposed you would be able to tel

g to do with his concerns," returned the venerable President, abstractedly ga

al) was now called in, and his suspense regarding the mysterious visitor so

six, Mr. Helwyse, sir,-winter following your and your respected father's departure for f

nding thin and bent before the empty

d nothing of h

and effected the transfer, under authority, of course, of his foster-father's signature. Where the prop

again. It was a favorite comme

awn. "But I hope my uncle is alive. It would be a loss not to have known so eccentric a man. I have a miniatu

who, at the departure of his confidential clerk, had relapsed into his u

erprises. I could learn little by domestic l

ot do without w

he young man, unblushingly. "But a single crumb

our sister was lost before she was old enough to be anything to you. By the way, I have

the old gentleman might be referring t

cognize one another in the

a return of absent-mindedness, yielded the point. He had grown up in the belief that his twin-sis

r some trace of him," said he. "If I'm unsuccessful,

your sp

Boston people are not

will ask Mr. Dyke about the chances for a practice he knows everything. And, Balder," he added, when the young man rose to go, "let me hear f

ejoined Helwyse, his long mustache curling to, his smile. They shook hands,-the vigorous young go