All the matter we encounter, all the chemistry and electricity we encounter, belongs to the mysterious body of some semi-conscious soul. The world is a pluralistic universe, wherein an assemblage of bodies and souls, some visible, some invisible, struggle for their own individual vision.
MAGNUS MUIR, TUTOR IN LATIN TO BACKWARD BOYS...
The bench where he now sat, with his coat-collar up, his hands deep in his pockets and his legs stretched out, faced a particular spot where the road crossed the esplanade and descended by a natural slope to a flat expanse of dry sand, an expanse that was rarely, save in terrific storms, invaded by the sea, and where in the summer season the donkeys and goat-carriages were wont to await their patrons. How well he knew this spot! It was one of those geographical points on the surface of the planet that would surely rush into his mind when he came to die, as a concentrated essence of all that life meant!
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