to her gently mocking question than to the importunities of his
own thought.

"No," he said, "I let it go. I begin to fear it is useless to attempt
to take short-cuts to the extinction of what is evil. It does not
cease, but merely changes its form. Unwillingly I have learned that. No
violent death is possible to things evil."

Julius rose to his feet.

"They must go on," he continued, "till, in the merciful providence of
God, their term is reached, till their power is exhausted, till they
have worn themselves out."

Lady Calmady turned and moved thoughtfully towards the far end of the
room, where the sunshine still slanted in through the open casements of
the bay window, and where the delicate, little spinster lady stood
awaiting her. Amorous pigeons cooed below on the string-course. Bees
droned sleepily against the glass.

"But," she said, in gentle remonstrance, "that is a rather terrible
doctrine, Julius. Surely it is not quite just; for it would seem to
leave us almost hopelessly at the mercy of the wrong-doing of others."

"Yes, but are we not, just that--all of us at the mercy of the
wrong-doing of others?--The courageous forever suffering for the
cowardly, the wise for the ignorant and brutish, the just for the
unjust? Is not this, perhaps, the very deepest lesson of our religion?"

"Oh no, no!" Katherine cried incredulously. "There is something at once
deeper and more comforting than that. Remember, in the beginning, when
God created all things and reviewed His handiwork, He pronounced it
very good."

Julius was recovering his suavity. The little packet of chap-books
rested safely in the pocket of his coat.

"But that was a long time ago," he said, smiling.

They reached the bay window. Katherine took her old friend's hand once
again and laid it caressingly upon her arm.

"Pardon me for keeping you waiting, dearest," she said. "Julius is in
fault. He will argue with me about the date of the creation, and that
takes time. He declares it was so long ago that everything has had time
to grow very old and go very wrong. But, indeed, he is mistaken. Agree
with me, tell him he is mistaken! The world is deliciously young yet.
It was only made a little over twenty-two years ago. I must know, for I
came into it then. And I found it all as new as I was myself, and a
thousand times prettier--quite adorably gay, adorably fresh."

Katherine's voice sank, grew fuller in tone. She gazed out over the
brilliant g