All in a garden fair; the simple story of three boys ... - University Library

236
ALL AV A GARDEN FAIR,
him as if he had no will in the matter, and as
if the drama of their Hves was not the creation
of his own brain.
You who have never l)een possessed by
such phantoms, you who have never made
acquaintance with any but men and women of
the flesh, cannot understand the strength of
such possession. For they do not leave the
brain in any waking hour ; they are always
present, always acting and talking, always in
some Avay carrying on their lives indepen-
dently of your own will ; they know nothing
of time or space ;
the longer they stay with you
the better you know them. Some of the men
become your friends : j^ou fall in love with
some of the girls. Some of them you liate
you weep over the misfortunes of some, you
rejoice with their joy. Yet one thing seems
strange, that there is in every one of them
something of yourself. Tliey ai*e your own
children ;
even in unlikeness they are like you.
These phantoms come only to a few; ;uid of
these few there arc not many, indeed, who can