fire in the wood.
Has not that fire, that lies harmless and unseen in the sticks, the
power to consume the whole country? Which is the stronger, the small
stick that first PRODUCES the fire, or the fire itself? So is the spirit
the element within the body, as the element of fire exists in the stick,
the element being superior to the substance."

Commoro--"Ha! Can you explain what we frequently see at night when lost
in the wilderness? I have myself been lost, and wandering in the dark I
have seen a distant fire; upon approaching the fire has vanished, and I
have been unable to trace the cause, nor could I find the spot."

"Have you no idea of the existence of spirits superior to either man or
beast? Have you no fear of evil except from bodily causes?"

Commoro.--"I am afraid of elephants and other animals when in the jungle
at night; but of nothing else."

"Then you believe in nothing--neither in a good nor evil spirit! And you
believe that when you die it will be the end of body and spirit; that
you are like other animals; and that there is no distinction between man
and beast; both disappear, and end at death?"

Commoro.--"Of course they do."

"Do you see no difference in good and bad actions?"

Commoro.--"Yes, there are good and bad in men and beasts."

"Do you think that a good man and a bad must share the same fate, and
alike die, and end?"

Commoro.--"Yes; what else can they do? How can they help dying? Good and
bad all die."

"Their bodies perish, but their spirits remain; the good in happiness,
the bad in misery. If you leave no belief in a future state, WHY
SHOULD A MAN BE GOOD? Why should he not be bad, if he can prosper by
wickedness?"

Commoro.--"Most people are bad; if they are strong they take from the
weak. The good people are all weak; they are good because they are not
strong enough to be bad."

Some corn had been taken out of a sack for the horses, and a few grains
lying scattered on the ground, I tried the beautiful metaphor of St.
Paul as an example of a future state. Making a small hole with my finger
in the ground, I placed a grain within it: "That," I said, "represents
you when you die." Covering it with earth, I continued, "That grain will
decay, but from it will rise the plant that will produce a reappearance
of the original form."

Commoro.--"Exactly so; that I understand. But the original grain does
NOT rise again; it rots like the dead man, and is ended. The fruit
produced is