And death, which was here in this loved brother, groaning half asleep and from habit calling without distinction on God and the devil, was not so remote as it had hitherto seemed to him.

It was in himself too, he felt that.

If not today, tomorrow, if not tomorrow, in thirty years, wasn't it all the same! And what was this inevitable death--he did not know, had never thought about it, and what was more, had not the power, had not the courage to think about it.

"I work, I want to do something, but I had forgotten it must all end; I had forgotten--death.

" He sat on his bed in the darkness, crouched up, hugging his knees, and holding his breath from the strain of thought, he pondered.