Utis and I had scarcely descended to the workshop next morning, when a call was heard at the telephone. It was Hulmar, inquiring whether I could call on him some time that day.
"I felt sure," said Utis, smiling, that my old friend would not rest till he had extracted from you all you can tell on the subject of ancient mathematics. It was only regard for the day and place kept him from entering on the topic then and there. I sincerely hope you will be able to gratify him. It is only when immersed in his favorite pursuits that he seems to find forgetfulness, and a certain degree of happiness."
My host sighed as he uttered these words, and became absorbed for a while in a seemingly painful revery. Perhaps he was thinking of the possibility that he, too, might. have to face within a few months. Whatever it might be, he shook it off, before long, by a vigorous effort of the will.
One of the things I most admired in the moral training of these people was, their careful cultivation of the power of putting aside unnecessary anxieties. To a mind prop-
214
