The mystery and lure of those still hours of darkness when the world slept had never ceased to hold their fascination for him.

Night and he were friends.

He had discovered many of its secrets.

A thousand times he had walked hand in hand with the spirit of it, approaching each time a little nearer to the heart of it, mastering its life, its sound, the whispering languages of that "other side of life" which rises quietly and as if in fear to live and breathe long after the sun has gone out.

To him it was more wonderful than day.
And this night that lay outside his window now was magnificent.