He knows the position, and estimates the
cost at its correct value. He has made himself the ruler of his own
destiny; we are only his servants. Personally, I have no fear,--save of
one fatality."
"And that?"
"Is what kills many strong men off in their middle-age," said Von
Glauben; "A disease for which there is no possible cure at that special
time of life,--Love! The love of boys is like a taste for green
gooseberries,--it soon passes, leaving a disordered stomach and a
general disrelish for acid fruit ever afterwards;--the love of the man-
about-town between the twenties and thirties is the love of self;--but
the love of a Man, after the Self-and-Clothes Period has passed, is the
love of the full-grown human creature clamouring for its mate,--its
mate in Soul even more than in Body. There is no gainsaying it--no
checking it--no pacifying it; it is a most disastrous business,
provocative of all manner of evils,--and to a king who has always been
accustomed to have his own way, it means Victory or Death!"
Sir Roger gazed at him perplexedly,--his tone was so solemn and full of
earnest meaning.
"You, for example," continued the Professor dictatorially, fixing his
keen piercing eyes full upon him; "You are a curious subject,--a very
curious subject! You live on a Dream; it is a good life--an excellent
life! It has the advantage, your Dream, of never becoming a reality,--
therefore you will always love,--and while you always love, you will
always keep young.
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