perish--as surely as any other form of earthly having; they are of
the playthings God lets men have that they may learn to distinguish
between apparent and real possession: if having will not teach them,
loss may.

But who would have thought, meeting the youth as he walked the road
with shoeless feet, that he sought the harbour of a great library in
some old house, so as day after day to feast on the thoughts of men
who had gone before him! For his was no antiquarian soul; it was a
soul hungry after life, not after the mummy cloths enwrapping the
dead.




CHAPTER II.

A SPIRITUAL FOOT-PAD.

He was now walking southward, but would soon, when the mountains
were well behind him, turn toward the east. He carried a small
wallet, filled chiefly with oatcake and hard skim-milk cheese: about
two o'clock he sat down on a stone, and proceeded to make a meal. A
brook from the hills ran near: for that he had chosen the spot, his
fare being dry. He seldom took any other drink than water: he had
learned that strong drink at best but discounted to him his own at a
high rate.

He drew from his pocket a small thick volume he had brought as the
companion of his journey, and read as he ate. His seat was on the