there are worse things than death he said simply smiled kindly and there are worse things than life he said life holds a good many harmless which i am afraid you are putting away from you in your prime for the sake of a mere but � after all what does it matter one must have a some men like horse racing others book collecting � others pictures � and so forth � you like the religious question well no doubt it affords you a great many opportunities of studying character i shall be very happy � here he extended his hand cordially to show you anything that may be of interest to you in rome and to present you to any of our brethren that may assist you in your i can give you a letter to declined the offered introduction with a decided negative shake of his head no he said i know cardinal that is enough but there is a great difference between and said with twinkling eyes is scarcely ever in rome he lives a life apart � and has for a long while been considered as a kind of saint from the privacy and of his life but he has his arrival in the eternal city triumphantly � by the performance of a miracle what do you say to this � you who would do away with things miraculous i say nothing till i hear answered i must know what the nature of the so called miracle is i am a in soul forces and in the of spiritual qualities affecting or others but in this there is no miracle it is simply natural law well you must interview the cardinal yourself said and tell me afterwards what you think about it if indeed you but you will the master christian not find him at home this morning he is summoned to the on account of the miracle � or the scandal the asked both matters are under discussion i believe replied but they are not in my province now can i be of any further service to you mr no i am sorry to have taken up so much of your time said but i think i understand your views i hope you do interrupted and that you will by and by grasp the fact that my views are shared by almost holding any church authority but you must go about in rome and make for yourself now let me do you know the d no oh you must know her � she is a great friend of s and a witty and brilliant personage in herself she is rather of your way of thinking and so is out of favour with the church but that will not matter to you and you will meet all the dissatisfied and enthusiastic of the earth in her i i will tell her to send you a card said something by way of formal acknowledgment and then took his leave he was singularly depressed and his face always quick to show traces of thought had somewhat lost its former expression of eager animation the had for the time so influenced his sensitive mind as to set it almost to the tune of the most despairing of s two voices a life of nothing worth from that nothing ere his birth to that last nothing under earth what was the use of trying to a truth if the majority preferred a lie will one bright beam be less intense when thy peculiar is in the world of sense and noted the touch of the slight of the shoulders and a t oi mv io the master christian to the otherwise straight slim figure as it passed from his presence � and smiled he had succeeded in putting a check on unselfish and had thrown a doubt into the pure intention of enthusiastic toil that was enough for the present and scarcely had crossed the threshold � scarcely had the echo of his departing footsteps died away � when a heavy velvet curtain in the apartment was cautiously thrust aside and stepped out of a recess behind it with a dignity and composure which would have been impossible to any but an italian priest convicted of playing the spy faced him confidently well he said with a more expressed in his look than in the simple well i echoed as he slowly advanced into the centre of the room you have not done as much as i expected you would your arguments were clever but not � to a man of his obstinacy convincing and sitting down he turned his dark face and gleaming eyes full on his who with a shrug of his massive shoulders expressed in his attitude a of the whole business you have not pursued deliberately grasped anything like the extent of this man s determination and indifference to results please mark that last � indifference to results he is apparently alone in the world � he seems to have nothing to lose and no one to care whether he or fails � a most dangerous form of independence and in his and eloquence he is actually stopping � yes i repeat it � stopping and putting a serious on the advancement of the roman catholic party and of course any check just now means to us a serious financial loss both in england and america � in which will very gravely certain necessary measures now under the consideration of his i expected you to grasp the man and hold him � not by but by flattery you think he is to be caught by so common a bait said he would see through it at once i maybe replied but perhaps not if it were administered in the way i mean you seem to have forgotten the chief oi cm i brought the master christian to bear upon the heart and mind of a 