him his parents in the splendour of their young beauty and passion.  For the first time he forgave his father, and he had a deep moment of insight:  one of the mysteries of life was bare before him.  He was to have many of these cosmic moments, for although his practical brain relied always on hard work, never on inspiration, his divining faculty performed some marvellous feats, and saved him from much plodding; but he never had a moment of insight which left a profounder impression than this.  He understood in a flash the weakness of the world, and his own.  At first he was appalled, then he pitied, then he vibrated to the thrill of that exultation which had possessed his mother the night on the mountain when she made up her mind to outstay her guests.  And then the future seemed to beckon more imperiously to the boy for whose sake she had remained, the radiant image of his parents melted in its crucible, and the world was flooded with a light which revealed more than the smoke of battlefields and the laurels of fulfilled ambition.

XIII

On the following day, as Alexander stood on the wharf with his tearful relatives and friends, Hugh Knox detached him from Mrs. Mitchell and led him aside.

“Alec,” he said, “I’ve two pieces of parting advice for you, and I want you to put them into the pocket of your memory that’s easiest to find.  Get a tight rein on that temper of yours.  It’s improved in the last year, but there’s room yet.  That’s the first piece.  This is the second:  keep your own counsel about the irregularity of your birth, unless someone asks you point-blank who has the right; if anyone else does, knock him down and tell him to go to hell with his impertinence.  And never let it hit your courage in the vitals for a moment.  You are not accountable; your mother was the finest woman I ever knew, and you’ve got the best blood of Britain in your veins, and not a relative in the world who’s not of gentle blood.  You’re an aristocrat in body and brain, and you’ll not find a purer in the American colonies.  The lack of a priest at the right time can cause a good deal of suffering and trouble, but it can’t muddy a pure stream; and many a lawful marriage has done that.  So, mind you never bring your head down for a minute, nor persuade yourself that anyone has a better right to keep it up.  It would be the death of you.”

Alexander nodded, but did not reply.  He was feeling very low, now that the hour for parting was come, for his affections were strong and tender, and they were all rooted in the Island he hated.  He understood, however.