ouch, prostrated himself,
instinctively, before the figure that appeared, framed in the oaken
doorway of the outer room: the figure of a man white-robed, whose face,
luminous and gently strong, was turned to him in tranquil majesty.

"Ask thy question, O Mortal," repeated the Christ-voice.

So Ivan, lifting his head, replied: "I came to ask it; being unable
longer to reconcile myself to a life inconsistent with all logic.

"O King! Tell me how it is that a world, God-conceived, therefore
inevitably perfect, became corrupt, filled with, and governed by, evil?
wherein great burdens are borne by the good; and wickedness, vice,
injustice, flourish unrebuked and unpunished. Whence comes this evil,
and why?"

The question was spoken bravely and unfalteringly, for Ivan could
perceive no sign of displeasure in the thoughtful countenance of the Man
Divine. There was an impressive pause; and Ivan had his answer.

"You have demanded a knowledge that is far beyond your present mortal
understanding. But be assured that he who asks this question shall
receive, in due time, its answer.--Yet know you so little of divine law
that you desire truth without a struggle to gain it? that you demand the
most priceless boon of creation as a favor, thinking to give naught in
return? Nay, more: you have broken a law written at creation in the
heart of every man; and thus, by the destruction of your earthly
fetters, have sought a good end by evil means. This, then, shall be my
judgment of your sin: In the punishment for your act of suicide, you
shall obtain the truth, the knowledge, that you have died to seek.

"And let this be your appointed task, whereby you may reach that season
of rest given each soul in the intervals between its experiences: Take
first four years among your fellows here. Then return to the world of
mortals where, in mortal guise, yet not in true confinement within the
bounds of the flesh, you shall find a path appointed you to travel.
There shall you cross the lives of two women, both of whom shall be
known to you: the secrets of their hearts and souls laid bare to your
transmortal mind. To these twain, dwellers in the provinces of good and
of evil, you shall seek to give what aid your wisdom can devise for
them. And in that attempt--the attempt to swerve them from the paths
dictated by their own temperaments, you shall learn the reason for the
ills you deprecate.--I have spoken. Obey the word; and in this labor
find th