unseen, not man or ghost, nor God nor Devil."

If you ever care to think of it, I carried that cutting in my pocket-
book from that hour I read it till now.

Remember, again, I say, that I never interfered in the slightest way
in any of your adventures. I wanted you to "dree your own weird," as
the Scotch say; and I wanted to know of it--that was all. Now, as I
hold you fully equipped for greater enterprise, I want to set your
feet on the road and to provide you with the most potent weapon--
beyond personal qualities--for the winning of great honour--a gain,
my dear nephew, which, I am right sure, does and will appeal to you
as it has ever done to me. I have worked for it for more than fifty
years; but now that the time has come when the torch is slipping from
my old hands, I look to you, my dearest kinsman, to lift it and carry
it on.

The little nation of the Blue Mountains has from the first appealed
to me. It is poor and proud and brave. Its people are well worth
winning, and I would advise you to throw in your lot with them. You
may find them hard to win, for when peoples, like individuals, are
poor and proud, these qualities are apt to react on each other to an
endless degree. These men are untamable, and no one can ever succeed
with them unless he is with them in all-in-all, and is a leader
recognized. But if you can win them they are loyal to death. If you
are ambitious--and I know you are--there may be a field for you in
such a country. With your qualifications, fortified by the fortune
which I am happy enough to be able to leave you, you may dare much
and go far. Should I be alive when you return from your exploration
in Northern South America, I may have the happiness of helping you to