have made a mistake in the address. It is not the
office of a father to instil moral principles into children. That
is the province of mothers. Fathers have no time for that work.
Go back in memory to your childhood; recall the principles which
your mother implanted in you, and you will find an answer to your
question."

Maryan laughed.

"What you say, father, reminds me of one of my friends who writes
books. A poor devil, but we receive him into our set, for he has
talent--that legitimizes. Well, on a time, someone asked him:
'What do you do when, in writing, you meet a difficulty?' 'I try
to overcome it,' answered he. 'But if you can't overcome it?'
'Then I dodge; or, I run to one side like a rabbit, and avoid
saying that which I know not how to say.' Well, you have acted,
dear father, like this author. You have dodged! Ha! ha! ha!"

He laughed, but Darvid grew gloomier and stiffer. It was strange,
but true, that in presence of that professor he felt himself more
and more a pupil.

"Let us leave poor, dear mamma in peace," continued Maryan. "She
is the impersonation of charm and sweetness. If there is still
anything of this sort which for me is not a painted pot yet, it
is the tenderness which I feel for mamma. She has spoken to me
often, indeed; and she speaks, even now, of principles, but the
best and dearest of women is only a woman. Sentiment, routine,
and, besides, want of logic: theory without end and practice
nowhere, is not that the case with women? You know them better
than I, father; for you have had more time to explore this part
of the universe."

His azure eyes glittered with sparks; his golden curls fell low
on his white forehead; and from his lips, shaded by a tiny
mustache, the words came out with increasing boldness and
fluency, and more thickly intermingled with a sarcastic smile:

"As for me, were I an old maid, I should become a Sister of
Charity; for that office has always a certain position in the
world, and the stiff bonnet casts a saving shadow on wrinkles.
Since I am who I am, I think thus of principles: they depend on
the place; the time; the geographical position; and the evolution
which society is accomplishing. If the heavens had created me an
ancient Greek, my principle would have been to battle for freedom
against Asiatics, and to be enamoured of a beautiful boy. If in
the Middle Ages, I should have fought for the honor of my lady
and burnt men alive on blazing piles. In the O