V

ON THE DOWN





Howard was very singularly impressed by this talk. It seemed to
him, not certainly indeed, but possibly, that he had stumbled,
almost as it were by accident, upon a great current of force and
emotion running vehemently through the world, under the calm
surface of things. How many apparently unaccountable events it
might explain! one saw frail people doing fine things, sensitive
people bearing burdens of ill-health or disappointment, placidly
and even contentedly, men making gallant, unexpected choices, big
expansive natures doing dull work and living cheerfully under
cramped conditions. He had never troubled to explain such
phenomena, beyond thinking that for some reason such a course of
action pleased and satisfied people. Of course everyone did not
hide the struggle; there were men he knew who had a grievance
against the world, for ever parading a valuation of themselves with
which no one concurred. But there were many people who had the
material for far worse grievances, who never seemed to nourish
them. Had they fought in secret and prevailed? Had they been
floated into some moving current of strength by a rising tide? Were
they, like the man in the Gospel, conscious of a treasure hidden in
a field which made all other prizes tame by comparison? Was the