Ah, have I then seen fifty years,
With all their joys and hopes and fears!"
Through all the verses he ranged, his voice improving with each phrase,
growing more resonant, till at last it rang out with a ragged richness
which went home to the hearts of all. He was possessed. All at once he
was conscious that the beginning of the end of things was come for him;
and that now, at fifty, in no sphere had he absolutely "arrived," neither
in home nor fortune, nor--but yes, there was one sphere of success; there
was his fatherhood. There was his daughter, his wonderful Zoe. He drew
his eyes from the distance, and saw that her ardent look was not towards
him, but towards one whom she had known but a few weeks.
Suddenly he stopped in the middle of a verse, and broke forward with his
arms outstretched, laughing. He felt that he must laugh, or he would
cry; and that would be a humiliating thing to do.
"Come, come, my friends, my children, enough of that!" he cried.
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