There was a terrible logic in his mental process.
Life was a treasure literally inestimable in value.

Death was the destroyer of this treasure, devised by the Supreme Power as a sure means of limiting man's activity and intelligence.

To conquer Death on his own ground was to win the great victory over that Power, and to drive back to an indefinite distance the boundaries of human supremacy.
It was assuredly not for the sake of benefiting mankind at large that he pursued his researches at all sacrifices and at all costs.

The prime object of all his consideration was himself, as he unhesitatingly admitted on all occasions, conceiving perhaps that it was easier to defend such a position than to disclaim it.

There could be no doubt that in the man's enormous self-estimation, the Supreme Power occupied a place secondary to Keyork Arabian's personality, and hostile to it.