the most momentous workshops of life, for the preservation of survival and the secret of existence — the workshop that bears the man's name, and expresses his being and the being of his partner through what they add to it of their offspring, and the fruits of their material and social efforts, for good if good, or for ill if ill!!

And God forbid, my son, that you should be one of those who do not grasp the gravity of undertaking to found a house — any but that house which will be the highest example of our new Arab home, which the nation awaits, and of which we stand in the direst need, especially in this milieu that pins great hopes on your marriage and your future...

And now let us return to the effect of your letter upon us.

I read it, and so did your father, twice, and three times. Then each of us withdrew to his room without either of us uttering a single word that betrayed its effect upon us. And here is what passed through my mind when I was alone with myself, without any addition or subtraction. Scarcely had I reached the passage indicating Miss Margaret's determination to remain at the side of her supposed first fiancé and to serve him should he return from the war disfigured, or deranged, or unable to support himself by himself... whereas if the contrary were the case, she would be free and clear of him. This, be it known, though there exists no legal or religious text whatever that compels her to this bond, with which she bound herself of her own free choice...

No sooner had I finished reading this passage than a wave of love and esteem for Margaret swept over my soul that I am powerless to describe. It is, by my truth, a noble sentiment that can issue only from a girl of deep sincerity and high breeding. And there is also her love for you, and her silent friendship during the months that have passed since your acquaintance, and her seeing to the arrangement of your needs, sacrificing her hours of leisure and her rest — all of which has increased my love and tenderness for her, and a sure longing to clasp her to me...

In short, what I have sensed from your lines, and from private conversations with the individuals who have made her acquaintance and seen her in your company, is that she appears to be a girl who is composed, sensible, and gracious, and who loves you with a true and honorable love.

But with all this, am I to be blamed, Nadim, if anx-iety steals over me when I picture you on the point of binding yourself to a woman who is a stranger to us, removed by all this distance from your people and your country?!! Am I to be blamed for my concern

over this grave step you are about to take — I who have known life's sweetness and its bitterness, I who have spent the years watching, at close hand and close range, the life of families, and the contingencies that beset the happiness of married couples and make resistance to them, at times, a sheer impossibility?!!

Accordingly, I hope it will not vex you if I put to you a few questions which cannot fail to give you a clear picture of what is passing through my mind and your father's, and of what occurs to us in this connection.

1 — Do you truly harbor, in the recesses of your soul and among the folds of your brain, a respect sufficient to equal your love for this girl? And if so, did you strip yourself of sexual emotion before you resolved to marry her?! Did you seek complete frankness with her when you disclosed to her everything that turns in your mind, and everything your soul says to you, and everything your heart and your intellect overflow with of hopes, and aspirations, and desires, and emotions, and inclinations, and appetites?!!..

2 — Have you explained to her clearly that first and fundamental aim which you set up for yourself from your youth, the aim that brought you to those lands so far from us in this age fraught with dangers?!

You, my darling, young in years as you are, have striven, and have attained, despite your youth, a distinguished position of no small worth among your people; so God forbid that anything should cross your path to send you back to the beginning of the road, and destroy all the efforts you have expended. Do you not think it necessary to review your circumstances and your particular conditions, those that have passed and those at hand, and to work to bring them all into accord with your goal? And the most important act you can perform toward that end is the choice of the suitable companion who accepts, with entire goodwill, to help you bring the endeavor to success, and to reach the goal?!..

Observation has proved to us that those who have succeeded in life succeeded because they concentrated their hopes upon a single desire: they knew the end for which they were created, then took the road toward it, and went on their way with firm foot and long strides, meeting no obstacle but they subdued it, and facing no impediment but they passed over it. And this is what you have done, my Nadim, until now, and what has been the cause of our pride, and of the esteem of your friends and of people for you; and my hope is that you will go forward on this same course to the end...

3 — Have you been frank with Margaret in what concerns your material position? For material means,