animal, Captain Parsons."

James smiled.

"I wonder why we all torture ourselves so unnecessarily. It really seems
as if the chief use we made of our reason was to inflict as much pain
upon ourselves and upon one another as we possibly could."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Captain Parsons."

"When you do anything, are you ever tormented by a doubt whether you are
doing right or wrong?"

"Never," she answered, firmly. "There is always a right way and a wrong
way, and, I'm thankful to say, God has given me sufficient intelligence
to know which is which; and obviously I choose the right way."

"What a comfortable idea! I can never help thinking that every right way
is partly wrong, and every wrong way partly right. There's always so
much to be said on both sides; to me it's very hard to know which is
which."

"Only a very weak man could think like that."

"Possibly! I have long since ceased to flatter myself on my strength of
mind. I find it is chiefly a characteristic of unintelligent persons."

* * *

It was Mary's way to take herself seriously. It flattered her to think
that she was not blind to Jamie's faults; she loved him none the less on
their account, but determined to correct them. He had an unusual way of
looking at things, and an occasional flippancy in his conversation, both
of which she hoped in time to eradicate. With patience, gentleness, and
dignity a woman can do a great deal with a man.

One of Mary's friends had a husband with a bad habit of swearing, which
was cured in a very simple manner. Whenever he swore, his wife swore
too. For instance, he would say: "That's a damned bad job;" and his wife
answered, smiling: "Yes, damned bad." He was rather surprised, but
quickly ceased to employ objectionable words. Story does not relate
whether he also got out of the habit of loving his wife; but that,
doubtless, is a minor detail. Mary always looked upon her friend as a
pattern.

"James is not really cynical," she told herself. "He says things, not
because he means them, but because he likes to startle people."

It was inconceivable that James should not think on all subjects as she
had been brought up to do, and the least originality struck her
naturally as a sort of pose. But on account of his illness Mary allowed
him a certain latitude, and when he said anything she did not approve
of, instead of arguing the point, merely smiled indulgently and changed
the subject. There was plenty