Terminations

The Altar of the Dead-7

By this time he had survived all his friends; the last straight flame was three years old; there was no one to add to the list. Over and over he called his roll, and it appeared to him compact and complete. Where should he put in another; where, if there were no other objection, would it stand in its place in the rank? He reflected, with a want of sincerity of which he was quite conscious, that it would be difficult to determine that place. More and more, besides, face to face with his little legion, reading over endless histories, handling the empty shells and playing with the silence – more and more he could see that he had never introduced an alien. He had had his great compassions, his indulgences – there were cases in which they had been immense; but what had his devotion after all be