mystified. The professor, however, inclined his
head sympathetically.

"It is my intention," he remarked, "in drafting my final prescription,
that the action of the food shall not be so violent. If the quantities
are less strenuously mixed, the food, as you can surmise, will be so
much the milder. A gentle preference for truth, a dawning appreciation
of beauty, a gradual withdrawal from the grosser things of life--these
may, perhaps, be conceived after a week's trial of the food. Then a
regular course of it--say for six months or so--would build up these
tendencies till they became a part of character. The change, as you
see, would not be too sudden. That is my idea, Bomford. We have not
heard much from you this evening. What do you think?"

"I agree with you entirely, professor," Mr. Bomford pronounced. "For
many reasons it will be as well, I think, to render the food a little
less violent in its effects."

Mr. Bunsome began to chuckle to himself. An imperfectly developed
sense of humor was asserting itself.

"It's a funny idea!" he exclaimed. "The more one thinks of it, the
funnier it becomes. Supposing for a moment--you all take it so
seriously--supposing for a moment that the food were to turn out to
really have in it some of these qualities, what a mess a few days of it
would make of the Stock Exchange! It would mean chaos, sir!"

"It is our hope," the professor declared, sternly, "our profound hope,
that this enterprise of ours will not only bring great fortunes to
ourselves but will result in the moral elevation of the whole world.
There are medicines--patent medicines, too--which have cured thousands
of bodily diseases. Why should we consider ourselves too sanguine when
we hope that ours, the first real attempt to minister to the physical
side of morals, may be equally successful?"

Burton stole away. In the garden he found Edith. They sat together
upon a seat and she allowed her hand to remain in his.

"I never knew father so wrapped up in anything as he is in this new
scheme," she whispered. "He is even worse than Mr. Bomford."

Burton shivered a little as he leaned back and closed his eyes.

"It is a nightmare!" he groaned. "Have you seen all those
advertisements of brain foods? The advertisement columns of our
magazines and newspapers are full of them. Their announcements grin
down upon us from every hoarding. Do you know that we are going to do
the same thing? We are going to contribute our share