That night, in Olaf's cabin, Alan put himself back on the old track again.

He made no effort to minimize the tragedy that had come into his life, and he knew its effect upon him would never be wiped away, and that Mary Standish would always live in his thoughts, no matter what happened in the years to come.

But he was not the sort to let any part of himself wither up and die because of a blow that had darkened his mental visions of things.

His plans lay ahead of him, his old ambitions and his dreams of achievement.

They seemed pulseless and dead now, but he knew it was because his own fire had temporarily burned out.