"You, Geoffrey Tempest, are a man in whom a Thought of God was once implanted,--that subtle fire or note of music out of heaven called Genius. So great a gift is rarely bestowed on any mortal,--and woe betide him, who having received it, holds it as of mere personal value, to be used for Self and not for God! Divine laws moved you gently in the right path of study,--the path of suffering, of disappointment, of self-denial and poverty,--for only by these things is humanity made noble and trained in the ways of perfection. Through pain and enduring labour the soul is armed for battle, and strengthened for conquest. For it is more difficult to bear a victory well, than to endure many buffetings of war! But you,--you resented Heaven's good-will towards you,--the Valley of Humiliation suited you not at all. Poverty maddened you,--starvation sickened you. Yet poverty is better than arrogant wealth,--and starvation is healthier than self-indulgence! You could not wait,--your own troubles seemed to you enormous,--your own efforts laudable and marvellous,--the troubles and efforts of others were nothing to you;--you were ready to curse God and die. Compassionating yourself, admiring yourself and none other, with a heart full of bitterness, and a mouth full of cursing, you were eager to make quick havoc of both your genius and your soul. For this cause, your millions of money came----and,--_so did I_!" Standing now full height he confronted me,--his eyes were less brilliant, but, they reflected in their dark splendour a passionate scorn and sorrow. "O fool!--in my very coming I warned you!--on the very day we met I told you I was not what I seemed! God's elements crashed a menace when we made our compact of friendship! And I,--when I saw the faint last struggle of the not quite torpid soul in you to resist and distrust me, did I not urge you to let that better instinct have its way? You,--jester with the Supernatural!--you,--base scoffer at Christ! A thousand hints have been given you,--a thousand chances of doing such good as must have forced me to leave you,--as would have brought me a welcome respite from sorrow,--a moment's cessation of torture!" His brows contracted in a sombre frown,--he was silent a moment,--then he resumed-- "Now learn from me the weaving of the web you so willingly became entangled in! Your millions of money were Mine!--the man that left you heir to them, was a wretched miser, evil to the soul's core! By virtue of his own deeds he and his dross were Mine! and maddened by the sheer accumulation of world's wealth, he slew himself in a fit of frenzy. He lives again in a new and much more realistic phase of existence, and knows the actual value of mankind's cash-payments! This _you_ have yet to learn!" He advanced a step or two, fixing his eyes more steadily upon me.