in twaddle, to know the value of health from the fear to lose it; to feel
an interest in rheumatism, an awe of bronchitis; to tell anecdotes, and
to wear flannel. To you in strict confidence I disclose the truth: I am
no longer twenty-five. You laugh; this is civilized talk: does it not
refresh you after the gibberish you must have chattered in Asia Minor?"

Darrell might have answered in the affirmative with truth. What man,
after long years of solitude, is not refreshed by talk, however trivial,
that recalls to him the gay time of the world he remembered in his young
day,--and recalls it to him on the lips of a friend in youth! But
Darrell said nothing; only he settled himself in his chair with a more
cheerful ease, and inclined his relaxing brows with a nod of
encouragement or assent.

Colonel Morley continued. "But when did you arrive? whence? How long do
you stay here? What are your plans?"

DARRELL.--"Caesar could not be more laconic. When arrived? this evening.
Whence? Ouzelford. How long do I stay? uncertain. What are my plans?
let us discuss them."

COLONEL MORLEY.--"With all my heart. You have plans, then?--a good sign.
Animals in hibernation form none."

DARRELL (putting aside the lights on the table, so as to leave, his face
in shade, and looking towards the floor as he speaks).--"For the last
five years I have struggled hard to renew interest in mankind, reconnect
myself with common life and its healthful objects. Between Fawley and
London I desired to form a magnetic medium. I took rather a vast one,
--nearly all the rest of the known world. I have visited both Americas,