generous sun upon them. Spread before their eyes was a lovely panoramic sweep of country. Out beyond the distant ring of fir-clad hills were the immensities.
As they sat side by side looking in silence and awe upon this wonder of wonders, a measure of healing came to them. The tragedy of their own frail humanity filled their hearts and drew them closer together. They saw themselves and one another as they were, two hapless specks of life. And yet with what tenacity they clung to it. Poised crazily in the middle of a narrow plank, rotten with age, over a bottomless abyss, one false step, and they were as though they had never been. That image of mortality filled their minds. To both alike, in those unforgettable moments, came knowledge of the stoicism that was needed in men and women who sought to overcome destiny.
Neither John or Helen had the depth of mind of the real thinker. In action lay their strength. To improve one tiny niche of the world they knew but very little was all they sought. But they were open to impressions, intensely alive. And each had a secret ear to catch, no matter how fitfully, how faintly, the pulse of the time.
"When we humans," said the sick man, "we hapless two-legs sit in our gazebo trying to peer behind the sunset, as you and I are doing now, we always seem to be up against one question. Is there anything really to be hoped from science? It is contriving all sorts
