"There must have been great changes since I was at school. I believe the
rising generation is developing a nobler ambition than their predecessors
possessed."

"I should hope so," I said, with girlish scorn; "as if such mere
accidents as birth and the ownership of plate and jewelry could give one
higher rank than intellect. Why, I believe that is the scarcest thing in
all the universe."

"It does seem ridiculous," Mrs. Flaxman said reflectively, "but it is
hard escaping from the spirit of the age in which we live. It would be
easy to hold such things lightly in those heroic days in Greece when
Lycurgus cheapened the gold and things the masses held most precious."

"One can have a little republic in their own soul as well as Lycurgus,
and indulge unforced in high thinking. I think that would be really more
creditable than if every one agreed to do so by act of senate."

"It would be a grand thing for every one to get the dross all burned away
from their nature and only have the pure gold left."

"Don't you think, Mrs. Flaxman, with a good many people, after the
burning process, there would be so little left it would take a whole
flock of them to make a decent sized individual?"

She laughed softly. "I never thought of it in that way. I am afraid now
I will get to undressing my acquaintances, to try and find out how much
that will be fit to take into higher existences they have in their
composition."

"Mr. Winthrop is a very uncomfortable sort of person to live with, but I
think he will have more noble qualities to carry somewhere after death
than the average of my acquaintances. What a pity it is for such splendid
powers of mind to be lost! He has the materials in him to make a grand
angel."

Mrs. Flaxman looked up quickly.

"You cannot think it is his ultimate destiny to be lost?" she questioned.

"He doesn't believe in the Bible. What hope can he have that we will ever
get to heaven?"

"A multitude of prayers are piled between him and perdition. His mother
was a saintly character, whose dying breath was a prayer for him; and
there are others who have taken his case daily to the mercy seat for
years."

"I wish I had some one to pray for me," I said rather fretfully.

"My dear, I do not know any one who has more leisure to pray for
themselves than you have."

I was surprised to hear her speak so lightly on such a solemn subject;
but as I thought the matter over afterward, I could but acknowledge that