literature--was indeed regarded by his companions as an authority in its
more imaginative ranges, and specially in matters belonging to verse,
having an exceptionally fine ear for its vocal delicacies. This is one
of the rarest of gifts; but rarity does not determine value, and Walter
greatly overestimated its relative importance. The consciousness of its
presence had far more than a reasonable share in turning his thoughts to
literature as a profession.

When his bent became apparent, it troubled his father a little. He knew
that to gain the level of excellence at which labor in that calling
insured the merest livelihood, required in most cases a severe struggle;
and for such effort he doubted his son's capacity, perceiving in him
none of the stoic strength that comes of a high ideal, and can encounter
disappointment, even privation, without injury. Other and deeper dangers
the good parent did not see. He comforted himself that, even if things
went no better than now, he could at least give his son a fair chance of
discovering whether the career would suit him, until he should attain
the material end of it. Long before Miss Hancock's attack upon his
supposed indifference to his son's idleness, he had made up his mind to
let him try how far he could go in the way to which he was drawn; and
the next day told his son, to his unspeakable delight, that he was ready
to do what lay in his power to further his desire; that his own earthly
life was precious to him only for the sake of the children he must by
and by leave; and that when he saw him busy, contented, and useful, he
would gladly yield his hold upon it.

Walter's imagination took fire at the prospect of realizing all he had
longed for but feared to subject to paternal scrutiny, and he was at
once eager to go out into the great unhomely world, in the hope of being
soon regarded by his peers as the possessor of certain gifts and