His stormy youth may have flung him on the deck of some corsair and sent him among the contrasting regions of the globe; thus it was that he knew the actions of a living humanity.

He knew the present and the past,--a double history; that of to-day, that of other days.

Many men have been, like Wilfrid, equally powerful by the Hand, by the Heart, by the Head; like him, the majority have abused their triple power.

But though this man still held by certain outward liens to the slimy side of humanity, he belonged also and positively to the sphere where force is intelligent.

In spite of the many veils which enveloped his soul, there were certain ineffable symptoms of this fact which were visible to pure spirits, to the eyes of the child whose innocence has known no breath of evil passions, to the eyes of the old man who has lived to regain his purity.
These signs revealed a Cain for whom there was still hope,--one who seemed as though he were seeking absolution from the ends of the earth.