……Yes；Ihadaglimpseofhimthen……anditwasnotthelastofthatkind……“Youdon’tknowwhatitisforafellowinmypositiontobebelieved——makeacleanbreastofittoanelderman。Itissodifficult——soawfullyunfair——sohardtounderstand。“`Themistswereclosingagain。Idon’tknowhowoldIappearedtohim——andhowmuchwise。NothalfasoldasIfeltjustthen；nothalfasuselesslywiseasIknewmyselftobe。Surelyinnoothercraftasinthatoftheseadotheheartsofthosealreadylaunchedtosinkorswimgooutsomuchtotheyouthonthebrink，lookingwithshiningeyesuponthatglitterofthevastsurfacewhichisonlyareflectionofhisownglancesfulloffire。Thereissuchmagnificentvaguenessintheexpectationsthathaddriveneachofustosea，suchagloriousindefiniteness，suchabeautifulgreedofadventuresthataretheirownandonlyreward!Whatweget——well，wewon’ttalkofthat；butcanoneofusrestrainasmile？Innootherkindoflifeistheillusionmorewideofreality——innootheristhebeginningallillusion——thedisenchantmentmoreswift——thesubjugationmorecomplete。Hadn’tweallcommencedwiththesamedesire，endedwiththesameknowledge，carriedthememoryofthesamecherishedglamourthroughthesordiddaysofimprecation？Whatwonderthatwhensomeheavyprodgetshomethebondisfoundtobeclose；thatbesidesthefellowshipofthecraftthereisfeltthestrengthofawiderfeeling——thefeelingthatbindsamantoachild？Hewastherebeforeme，believingthatageandwisdomcanfindaremedyagainstthepainoftruth，givingmeaglimpseofhimselfasayoungfellowinascrapethatistheverydevilofascrape，thesortofscrapegreybeardswagatsolemnlywhiletheyhideasmile。Andhehadbeendeliberatingupondeath——confoundhim!Hehadfoundthattomeditateaboutbecausehethoughthehadsavedhislife，whileallitsglamourhadgonewiththeshipinthenight。Whatmorenatural!Itwastragicenoughandfunnyenoughinallconsciencetocallaloudforcompassion，andinwhatwasIbetterthantherestofustorefusehimmypity？AndevenasIlookedathimthemistsrolledintotherent，andhisvoicespoke：
“`Iwassolost，youknow。Itwasthesortofthingonedoesnotexpecttohappentoone。Itwasnotlikeafight，forinstance。“
“`Itwasnot，“Iadmitted。Heappearedchanged，asifhehadsuddenlymatured。
“`Onecouldn’tbesure，“hemuttered。
“`Ah!Youwerenotsure，“Isaid，andwasplacatedbythesoundofafaintsighthatpassedbetweenusliketheflightofabirdinthenight。