ence such a character as Palla Dumont's--"

"--Such a _character_?" repeated Shotwell. "What sort of character do
you suppose hers to be, anyway? Between you and your psychological
and pathological surmises you don't seem to leave her any character at
all."

"I'm telling you," said Estridge, "that the girl is influenced not by
the will or desire of others, but by their necessities, their
distress, their needs.... Or what she believes to be their needs....
And you may decide for yourself how valuable are the conclusions of an
impulsive, wilful, fearless, generous girl whose heart regulates her
thinking apparatus."

"According to you, then, she is practically mindless," remarked
Shotwell, ironically. "You medically minded gentlemen are wonders!--all
of you."

"You don't get me. The girl is clever and intelligent when her
accumulated emotions let her brain alone. When they interfere, her
logic goes to smash and she does exaggerated things--like trying to
sacrifice herself for her friend in the convent there--like tearing
off the white garments of her novitiate and denouncing deity!--like
embracing an extravagant pantheistic religion of her own manufacture
and proclaiming that the Law of Love is the only law!

"I've heard the young lady on the subject, Jim. And, medically minded
or not, I'm medically on to her."

They walked on together in silence for nearly a whole block; then
Estridge said bluntly:

"She'd be better balanced if she were married and had a few children.
Such types usually are."

Shotwell made no comment. Presently the other spoke again:

"The Law of Love! What rot! That's sheer hysteria. Follow that law and
you become a saint, perhaps, perhaps a devil. Love sacred, love
profane--both, when exaggerated, arise from the same physical
condition--too much pep for the mind to distribute.

"What happens? Exaggerations. Extravagances. Hallucinations.
Mysticisms.

"What results? Nuns. Hermits. Yogis. Exhorters. Fanatics. Cranks.
_Sometimes._ For, from the same chrysalis, Jim, may emerge either a
vestal, or one of those tragic characters who, swayed by this same
remarkable Law of Love, may give ... and burn on--slowly--from the
first lover to the next. And so, into darkness."

He added, smiling: "The only law of love subscribed to by sane people
is framed by a balanced brain and interpreted by common sense. Those
who obey any other code go a-glimmering, saint and sinner, novice and
Magdalene alike...