ould not be hard on him. There was the
new religion to be counted upon. It was just as likely as not that he
would actually start a new religion, and you can't be hard upon a man
who starts a new religion. There was Buddha, for instance,--that was a
long time ago, to be sure; but still there he was, the most important
factor to be considered in attempting to solve the great question of
the reconcilement of the religions of the East,--Buddha, and Wesley, and
Edward Irving, and Confucius, and General Booth; if you took them all
seriously where would you be?

"Oh, no, my dear Phyllis!" continued Lady Earlscourt; "you must not
persist in your ill-treatment of Mr. Holland. If you do he may marry
someone else."

Phyllis shook her head.

"I hope he will, indeed," said she. "He certainly will never marry me."

"Do not be obdurate," said Lady Earlscourt. "He may not really believe
in all that he put into that book."

"Then there is no excuse for his publishing it," said Phyllis promptly.

"But if he doesn't actually hold the views which he has formulated in
that book, you cannot consistently reject him on the plea that he is not
quite--well, not quite what you and I call orthodox."

This contention was too plain to be combated by the girl. She did not
for a moment see her way out of the amazing logic of the lady. Quite a
minute had passed before she said:

"If he propounds such views without having a firm conviction that they
are true, he has acted a contemptible part, Lady Earlscourt. I think far
too highly of him to entertain for a single moment the idea that he is
not sincere."

"But if you believe that he is sincere, why should you say that you will
not marry him?"

"I would not marry an atheist, however sincere he might be."

"An atheist! But Mr. Holland is not an atheist; on the contrary, he
actually believes that there are two Gods; one worshiped of the Jews
long ago, the other by us nowadays. An atheist! Oh, no!"

"I'm afraid that I can't explain to you, dear Lady Earlscourt."

Once more Phyllis shook her head with some degree of sadness. She felt
that it would indeed be impossible for her to explain to this lady of
logic that she believed the truth to be a horizon line, and that any
opinion which was a little above this line was as abhorrent as any that
was a little below it.

"If you are stubborn, God may marry you to a Dissenter yet," said Lady
Earlscourt solemnly.

Phyllis smiled and shook her head