Everything would be made ready for him, and Colonel Kenton would call him at the appointed hour.

As he withdrew he bade them in turn good night, and they returned his courtesy gravely.
It was one thing to go to his room, but it was another to sleep.
He undressed and sat on the edge of the bed.

Only when he was alone did he realize the tremendous change that had come into his life.

Nor into his life alone, but into the lives of all he knew, and of millions more.
It had ceased snowing and the wind was still.

The earth was clothed in deep and quiet white, and the pines stood up, rows of white cones, silvered by the moonlight.