valiant order, the quality that accompanies a lofty soul in a strong
body. For his constant courtesy and habit of making sacrifices for his
friends, he was in danger of being canonized by his school-fellows.

About this time, shortly after his father's death, it was suggested he
should leave the Queen Elizabeth School on the Island and study at
Southampton. Here he tried his best, boy though he was, to live up to
the standard of what he had been told were his obligations as a
gentleman, acquiring, too, a little book-learning and much every-day
knowledge.

Isaac's holidays, always spent in his beloved Guernsey, increased the
thirst for adventure. The spirit of conquest, the controlling influence
of his after life, grew upon him. Something accomplished, something
done, was the daily rule. To scale an impossible cliff with the wings of
circling sea-fowl beating in his face, to land a big conger eel without
receiving a shock, to rescue a partridge from a falcon, to shoot a
rabbit at fifty paces, to break a wild pony, or even to scan a
complicated line in his syntax--these were achievements, small perhaps,
but typical of his desire. His young soul was stirred; the blood coursed
in his veins as the sap courses in the trees of the forest in spring;
his mind, susceptible to the influences of nature, was strengthened and
purified by these pursuits.

In the shelter of silent trossach, on wind-swept height, or on wildest,
ever-restless sea, he would, as the mood seized him, take his solitary
outings. These jaunts, he told his mother, gave him time to reflect and
resolve. It was not strange that he selected a profession that presented
the opportunities he craved.