time; and if people were all as straight and altruistic and
high-principled as she is, there'd really be no more bother about morals
in the world. Native good sense would decide. Even as it is, the native
good sense of mankind is deciding certain questions and will presently
push the lawyers into codifying their mouldy laws, and then give reason
a chance to cleanse the whole archaic lump of them; but as it is,
Estelle--Take Marriage, for example. I agree with her all the way--in
theory. But when you come to view the situation in practice--you're up
against things as they are, and you never want people you love to be
martyrs, however noble the cause. Estelle says the law of sex
relationships is barbaric, and that marriage is being submitted to
increasing rational criticism, which the law and the Church both
conspire to ignore. She thinks that these barriers to progress ought to
be swept away, because they have a vicious effect on the institution and
degrade men and women. She's always got her eye on the future, and the
result is sometimes that she doesn't focus the present too exactly. It's
noble, but not practical."

"The institution of marriage will last Estelle's time, I think,"
declared Mr. Churchouse.

"One hopes so heartily--for her own sake. One knows very well it's an
obsolescent sort of state, and can't bear the light of reason, and must
be reformed, so that intelligent people can enter it in a
self-respecting spirit; but if there is one institution that defies the
pioneers, it is marriage. The law's far too strong for us there. And I
don't want to see her misunderstood."

They parted soon after this speech, and the older man, who had long
suspected the fact, now perceived that Raymond was beginning to think of
Estelle in new terms and elevating her to another place in his thoughts.

It was the personal standpoint that challenged Ironsyde's mind. His old
sentiments and opinions respecting the marriage bond took a very
different colour before the vision of an Estelle united to himself. Thus
circumstances alter opinions, and the theories he had preached to Sabina
went down the wind when he thought of Estelle. The touchstone of love
vitiates as well as purifies thinking.

CHAPTER XI

THE HEMP BREAKER

Ironsyde attached increasing importance to the fullest possible
treatment of the raw material before actual spinning, and was not only
always on the lookout for the best hemps and flaxes grown, but spa