Page:Men of Letters, Scott, 1916.djvu/103

THE AMBITIONS OF SIR JAMES BARRIE 77 sent that volume packing." And now he is a knight himself ! There are some who affect to find an incongruity in the honour; we of the old school can never do that. To us it seems to have an almost incredible aptness — it is a title that perfectly fits the quaint tale of his life. It has a fairy-tale quality, and that is just as it should be, for he literally owes it to his love for the wee folk. It seems to form yet another illustration of the unintended text which these successive papers seem to be in- voluntarily repeating — another instance of the great truth that you must be humble if you would prevail, innocent in order to grow wise ; and that, in the arts especially, a man must lose himself to find his way, resign ambition to succeed, and turn his back on the world if he would see and serve it aright. The Booliman, 1913.