In the very act of destruction, an inspiration came to me.

A man was expected! A Prophet was expected! And in the pages of the Scitsym were contained the attributes, the secret signs, the manifold ways in which he was to make good his claim.
"I come of an obstinate stock--of a stock that in the past has overcome many obstacles.

That night I copied out the whole of your Scitsym, and afterwards, as soon as I reasonably could, I left Scotland.
"I went at once to my mother; I told her that, according to the disposition of my uncle's will, I was to inherit his fortune in ten years' time, and that in the interval I was to fit myself for wealth by profound study.

It was the first time in all my life that I had lied to her! "But to come to the end, your Prophet was to be a student of Eastern lore.

With this knowledge in my mind, I started with my mother for the East.