,,the ,,ball ,,and ,,the ,,cross ,g4,k4 ,chesterton ,,contents ,i4 ,a ,discussion ,somewhat in the ,air ,,ii4 ,the ,religion of the ,stipendiary ,magistrate ,,iii4 ,some ,old ,curiosities ,,iv4 ,a ,discussion at ,dawn ,v4 ,the ,peacemaker ,,vi4 ,the ,other ,philosopher ,,vii4 ,the ,village of ,grassley-in-the-,hole ,,viii4 ,an ,interlude of ,argument ,,ix4 ,the ,strange ,lady ,x4 ,the ,swords ,rejoined ,,xi4 ,a ,scandal in the ,village ,,xii4 ,the ,desert ,island ,,xiii4 ,the ,garden of ,peace ,,xiv4 ,a ,museum of ,souls ,,xv4 ,the ,dream of ,mac,ian ,,xvi4 ,the ,dream of ,turnbull ,,xvii4 ,the ,idiot ,,xviii4 ,a ,riddle of ,faces ,,xix4 ,the ,last ,parley ,,xx4 ,dies ,irae ,i4 ,a ,,discussion ,,somewhat ,,in ,,the ,,air ,the flying ship of ,professor ,lucifer sang through the skies like a silver arrow2 the bleak white steel of it1 gleaming in the bleak blue emptiness of the evening4 ,that it was far above the earth was no expression for it2 to the two men in it1 it seemed to be far above the stars4 ,the professor had himself invented the flying machine1 and had also invented nearly everything in it4 ,every sort of tool or apparatus had1 in consequence1 to the full1 that fantastic and distorted look which belongs to the miracles of science4 ,for the world of science and evolution is far more nameless and elusive and like a dream than the world of poetry and religion2 since in the latter images and ideas remain themselves eternally1 while it is the whole idea of evolution that identities melt into each other as they do in a nightmare4 ,all the tools of ,professor ,lucifer were the ancient human tools gone mad1 grown into unrecognizable shapes1 forgetful of their origin1 forgetful of their names4 ,that thing which looked like an enormous key with three wheels was really a patent and very deadly revolver4 ,that object which seemed to be created by the entanglement of two corkscrews was really the key4 ,the thing which might have been mistaken for a tricycle turned upside-down was the inexpressibly important instrument to which the corkscrew was the key4 ,all these things1 as ,i say1 the professor had invented2 he had invented everything in the flying ship1 with the exception1 perhaps1 of himself4 ,this he had been born too late actually to inaugurate1 but he believed at least1 that he had considerably improved it4 ,there was1 however1 another man on board1 so to speak1 at the time4 ,him1 also1 by a curious coincidence1 the professor had not invented1 and him he had not even very greatly improved1 though he had fished him up with a lasso out of his own back garden1 in ,western ,bulgaria1 with the pure object of improving him4 ,he was an exceedingly holy man1 almost entirely covered with white hair4 ,you could see nothing but his eyes1 and he seemed to talk with them4 ,a monk of immense learning and acute intellect he had made himself happy in a little stone hut and a little stony garden in the ,balkans1 chiefly by writing the most crushing refutations of exposures of certain heresies1 the last professors of which had been burnt 7generally by each other7 precisely #a1aai years previously4 ,they were really very plausible and thoughtful heresies1 and it was really a creditable or even glorious circumstance1 that the old monk had been intellectual enough to detect their fallacy2 the only misfortune was that nobody in the modern world was intellectual enough even to understand their argument4 ,the old monk1 one of whose names was ,michael1 and the other a name quite impossible to remember or repeat in our ,western civilization1 had1 however1 as ,i have said1 made himself quite happy while he was in a mountain hermitage in the society of wild animals4 ,and now that his luck had lifted him above all the mountains in the society of a wild physicist1 he made himself happy still4 8,i have no intention1 my good ,michael10 said ,professor ,lucifer1 8of endeavouring to convert you by argument4 ,the imbecility of your traditions can be quite finally exhibited to anybody with mere ordinary knowledge of the world1 the same kind of knowledge which teaches us not to sit in draughts or not to encourage friendliness in impecunious people4 ,it is folly to talk of this or that demonstrating the rationalist philosophy4 ,everything demonstrates it4 ,rubbing shoulders with men of all kinds----0 8,you will forgive me10 said the monk1 meekly from under loads of white beard1 8but ,i fear ,i do not understand2 was it in order that ,i might rub my shoulder against men of all kinds that you put me inside this thing80 8,an entertaining retort1 in the narrow and deductive manner of the ,middle ,ages10 replied the ,professor1 calmly1 8but even upon your own basis ,i will illustrate my point4 ,we are up in the sky4 ,in your religion and all the religions1 as far as ,i know 7and ,i know everything71 the sky is made the symbol of everything that is sacred and merciful4 ,well1 now you are in the sky1 you know better4 ,phrase it how you like1 twist it how you like1 you know that you know better4 ,you know what are a man's real feelings about the heavens1 when he finds himself alone in the heavens1 surrounded by the heavens4 ,you know the truth1 and the truth is this4 ,the heavens are evil1 the sky is evil1 the stars are evil4 ,this mere space1 this mere quantity1 terrifies a man more than tigers or the terrible plague4 ,you know that since our science has spoken1 the bottom has fallen out of the ,universe4 ,now1 heaven is the hopeless thing1 more hopeless than any hell4 ,now1 if there be any comfort for all your miserable progeny of morbid apes1 it must be in the earth1 underneath you1 under the roots of the grass1 in the place where hell was of old4 ,the fiery crypts1 the lurid cellars of the underworld1 to which you once condemned the wicked1 are hideous enough1 but at least they are more homely than the heaven in which we ride4 ,and the time will come when you will all hide in them1 to escape the horror of the stars40 8,i hope you will excuse my interrupting you10 said ,michael1 with a slight cough1 8but ,i have always noticed----0 8,go on1 pray go on10 said ,professor ,lucifer1 radiantly1 8,i really like to draw out your simple ideas40 8,well1 the fact is10 said the other1 8that much as ,i admire your rhetoric and the rhetoric of your school1 from a purely verbal point of view1 such little study of you and your school in human history as ,i have been enabled to make has led me to--er--rather singular conclusion1 which ,i find great difficulty in expressing1 especially in a foreign language40 8,come1 come10 said the ,professor1 encouragingly1 8,i'll help you out4 ,how did my view strike you80 8,well1 the truth is1 ,i know ,i don't express it properly1 but somehow it seemed to me that you always convey ideas of that kind with most eloquence1 when--er--when----0 8,oh6 get on10 cried ,lucifer1 boisterously4 8,well1 in point of fact when your flying ship is just going to run into something4 ,i thought you wouldn't mind my mentioning it1 but it's running into something now40 ,lucifer exploded with an oath and leapt erect1 leaning hard upon the handle that acted as a helm to the vessel4 ,for the last ten minutes they had been shooting downwards into great cracks and caverns of cloud4 ,now1 through a sort of purple haze1 could be seen comparatively near to them what seemed to be the upper part of a huge1 dark orb or sphere1 islanded in a sea of cloud4 ,the ,professor's eyes were blazing like a maniac's4 8,it is a new world10 he cried1 with a dreadful mirth4 8,it is a new planet and it shall bear my name4 ,this star and not that other vulgar one shall be ',lucifer1 sun of the morning4' ,here we will have no chartered lunacies1 here we will have no gods4 ,here man shall be as innocent as the daisies1 as innocent and as cruel--here the intellect----0 8,there seems10 said ,michael1 timidly1 8to be something sticking up in the middle of it40 8,so there is10 said the ,professor1 leaning over the side of the ship1 his spectacles shining with intellectual excitement4 8,what can it be8 ,it might of course be merely a----0 ,then a shriek indescribable broke out of him of a sudden1 and he flung up his arms like a lost spirit4 ,the monk took the helm in a tired way2 he did not seem much astonished for he came from an ignorant part of the world in which it is not uncommon for lost spirits to shriek when they see the curious shape which the ,professor had just seen on the top of the mysterious ball1 but he took the helm only just in time1 and by driving it hard to the left he prevented the flying ship from smashing into ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral4 ,a plain of sad-coloured cloud lay along the level of the top of the ,cathedral dome1 so that the ball and the cross looked like a buoy riding on a leaden sea4 ,as the flying ship swept towards it1 this plain of cloud looked as dry and definite and rocky as any grey desert4 ,hence it gave to the mind and body a sharp and unearthly sensation when the ship cut and sank into the cloud as into any common mist1 a thing without resistance4 ,there was1 as it were1 a deadly shock in the fact that there was no shock4 ,it was as if they had cloven into ancient cliffs like so much butter4 ,but sensations awaited them which were much stranger than those of sinking through the solid earth4 ,for a moment their eyes and nostrils were stopped with darkness and opaque cloud2 then the darkness warmed into a kind of brown fog4 ,and far1 far below them the brown fog fell until it warmed into fire4 ,through the dense ,london atmosphere they could see below them the flaming ,london lights2 lights which lay beneath them in squares and oblongs of fire4 ,the fog and fire were mixed in a passionate vapour2 you might say that the fog was drowning the flames2 or you might say that the flames had set the fog on fire4 ,beside the ship and beneath it 7for it swung just under the ball71 the immeasurable dome itself shot out and down into the dark like a combination of voiceless cataracts4 ,or it was like some cyclopean sea-beast sitting above ,london and letting down its tentacles bewilderingly on every side1 a monstrosity in that starless heaven4 ,for the clouds that belonged to ,london had closed over the heads of the voyagers sealing up the entrance of the upper air4 ,they had broken through a roof and come into a temple of twilight4 ,they were so near to the ball that ,lucifer leaned his hand against it1 holding the vessel away1 as men push a boat off from a bank4 ,above it the cross already draped in the dark mists of the borderland was shadowy and more awful in shape and size4 ,professor ,lucifer slapped his hand twice upon the surface of the great orb as if he were caressing some enormous animal4 8,this is the fellow10 he said1 8this is the one for my money40 8,may ,i with all respect inquire10 asked the old monk1 8what on earth you are talking about80 8,why this10 cried ,lucifer1 smiting the ball again1 8here is the only symbol1 my boy4 ,so fat4 ,so satisfied4 ,not like that scraggy individual1 stretching his arms in stark weariness40 ,and he pointed up to the cross1 his face dark with a grin4 8,i was telling you just now1 ,michael1 that ,i can prove the best part of the rationalist case and the ,christian humbug from any symbol you liked to give me1 from any instance ,i came across4 ,here is an instance with a vengeance4 ,what could possibly express your philosophy and my philosophy better than the shape of that cross and the shape of this ball8 ,this globe is reasonable2 that cross is unreasonable4 ,it is a four-legged animal1 with one leg longer than the others4 ,the globe is inevitable4 ,the cross is arbitrary4 ,above all the globe is at unity with itself2 the cross is primarily and above all things at enmity with itself4 ,the cross is the conflict of two hostile lines1 of irreconcilable direction4 ,that silent thing up there is essentially a collision1 a crash1 a struggle in stone4 ,pah6 that sacred symbol of yours has actually given its name to a description of desperation and muddle4 ,when we speak of men at once ignorant of each other and frustrated by each other1 we say they are at cross-purposes4 ,away with the thing6 ,the very shape of it is a contradiction in terms40 8,what you say is perfectly true10 said ,michael1 with serenity4 8,but we like contradictions in terms4 ,man is a contradiction in terms2 he is a beast whose superiority to other beasts consists in having fallen4 ,that cross is1 as you say1 an eternal collision2 so am ,i4 ,that is a struggle in stone4 ,every form of life is a struggle in flesh4 ,the shape of the cross is irrational1 just as the shape of the human animal is irrational4 ,you say the cross is a quadruped with one limb longer than the rest4 ,i say man is a quadruped who only uses two of his legs40 ,the ,professor frowned thoughtfully for an instant1 and said3 8,of course everything is relative1 and ,i would not deny that the element of struggle and self-contradiction1 represented by that cross1 has a necessary place at a certain evolutionary stage4 ,but surely the cross is the lower development and the sphere the higher4 ,after all it is easy enough to see what is really wrong with ,wren's architectural arrangement40 8,and what is that1 pray80 inquired ,michael1 meekly4 8,the cross is on top of the ball10 said ,professor ,lucifer1 simply4 8,that is surely wrong4 ,the ball should be on top of the cross4 ,the cross is a mere barbaric prop2 the ball is perfection4 ,the cross at its best is but the bitter tree of man's history2 the ball is the rounded1 the ripe and final fruit4 ,and the fruit should be at the top of the tree1 not at the bottom of it40 8,oh60 said the monk1 a wrinkle coming into his forehead1 8so you think that in a rationalistic scheme of symbolism the ball should be on top of the cross80 8,it sums up my whole allegory10 said the professor4 8,well1 that is really very interesting10 resumed ,michael slowly1 8because ,i think in that case you would see a most singular effect1 an effect that has generally been achieved by all those able and powerful systems which rationalism1 or the religion of the ball1 has produced to lead or teach mankind4 ,you would see1 ,i think1 that thing happen which is always the ultimate embodiment and logical outcome of your logical scheme40 8,what are you talking about80 asked ,lucifer4 8,what would happen80 8,i mean it would fall down10 said the monk1 looking wistfully into the void4 ,lucifer made an angry movement and opened his mouth to speak1 but ,michael1 with all his air of deliberation1 was proceeding before he could bring out a word4 8,i once knew a man like you1 ,lucifer10 he said1 with a maddening monotony and slowness of articulation4 8,he took this----0 8,there is no man like me10 cried ,lucifer1 with a violence that shook the ship4 8,as ,i was observing10 continued ,michael1 8this man also took the view that the symbol of ,christianity was a symbol of savagery and all unreason4 ,his history is rather amusing4 ,it is also a perfect allegory of what happens to rationalists like yourself4 ,he began1 of course1 by refusing to allow a crucifix in his house1 or round his wife's neck1 or even in a picture4 ,he said1 as you say1 that it was an arbitrary and fantastic shape1 that it was a monstrosity1 loved because it was paradoxical4 ,then he began to grow fiercer and more eccentric2 he would batter the crosses by the roadside2 for he lived in a ,roman ,catholic country4 ,finally in a height of frenzy he climbed the steeple of the ,parish ,church and tore down the cross1 waving it in the air1 and uttering wild soliloquies up there under the stars4 ,then one still summer evening as he was wending his way homewards1 along a lane1 the devil of his madness came upon him with a violence and transfiguration which changes the world4 ,he was standing smoking1 for a moment1 in the front of an interminable line of palings1 when his eyes were opened4 ,not a light shifted1 not a leaf stirred1 but he saw as if by a sudden change in the eyesight that this paling was an army of innumerable crosses linked together over hill and dale4 ,and he whirled up his heavy stick and went at it as if at an army4 ,mile after mile along his homeward path he broke it down and tore it up4 ,for he hated the cross and every paling is a wall of crosses4 ,when he returned to his house he was a literal madman4 ,he sat upon a chair and then started up from it for the cross-bars of the carpentry repeated the intolerable image4 ,he flung himself upon a bed only to remember that this1 too1 like all workmanlike things1 was constructed on the accursed plan4 ,he broke his furniture because it was made of crosses4 ,he burnt his house because it was made of crosses4 ,he was found in the river40 ,lucifer was looking at him with a bitten lip4 8,is that story really true80 he asked4 8,oh1 no10 said ,michael1 airily4 8,it is a parable4 ,it is a parable of you and all your rationalists4 ,you begin by breaking up the ,cross2 but you end by breaking up the habitable world4 ,we leave you saying that nobody ought to join the ,church against his will4 ,when we meet you again you are saying that no one has any will to join it with4 ,we leave you saying that there is no such place as ,eden4 ,we find you saying that there is no such place as ,ireland4 ,you start by hating the irrational and you come to hate everything1 for everything is irrational and so----0 ,lucifer leapt upon him with a cry like a wild beast's4 8,ah10 he screamed1 8to every man his madness4 ,you are mad on the cross4 ,let it save you40 ,and with a herculean energy he forced the monk backwards out of the reeling car on to the upper part of the stone ball4 ,michael1 with as abrupt an agility1 caught one of the beams of the cross and saved himself from falling4 ,at the same instant ,lucifer drove down a lever and the ship shot up with him in it alone4 8,ha6 ha60 he yelled1 8what sort of a support do you find it1 old fellow80 8,for practical purposes of support10 replied ,michael grimly1 8it is at any rate a great deal better than the ball4 ,may ,i ask if you are going to leave me here80 8,yes1 yes4 ,i mount6 ,i mount60 cried the professor in ungovernable excitement4 8,altiora peto4 ,my path is upward40 8,how often have you told me1 ,professor1 that there is really no up or down in space80 said the monk4 8,i shall mount up as much as you will40 8,indeed10 said ,lucifer1 leering over the side of the flying ship4 8,may ,i ask what you are going to do80 ,the monk pointed downward at ,ludgate ,hill4 8,i am going10 he said1 8to climb up into a star40 ,those who look at the matter most superficially regard paradox as something which belongs to jesting and light journalism4 ,paradox of this kind is to be found in the saying of the dandy1 in the decadent comedy1 8,life is much too important to be taken seriously40 ,those who look at the matter a little more deeply or delicately see that paradox is a thing which especially belongs to all religions4 ,paradox of this kind is to be found in such a saying as 8,the meek shall inherit the earth40 ,but those who see and feel the fundamental fact of the matter know that paradox is a thing which belongs not to religion only1 but to all vivid and violent practical crises of human living4 ,this kind of paradox may be clearly perceived by anybody who happens to be hanging in mid-space1 clinging to one arm of the ,cross of ,st4 ,paul's4 ,father ,michael in spite of his years1 and in spite of his asceticism 7or because of it1 for all ,i know71 was a very healthy and happy old gentleman4 ,and as he swung on a bar above the sickening emptiness of air1 he realized1 with that sort of dead detachment which belongs to the brains of those in peril1 the deathless and hopeless contradiction which is involved in the mere idea of courage4 ,he was a happy and healthy old gentleman and therefore he was quite careless about it4 ,and he felt as every man feels in the taut moment of such terror that his chief danger was terror itself2 his only possible strength would be a coolness amounting to carelessness1 a carelessness amounting almost to a suicidal swagger4 ,his one wild chance of coming out safely would be in not too desperately desiring to be safe4 ,there might be footholds down that awful facade1 if only he could not care whether they were footholds or no4 ,if he were foolhardy he might escape2 if he were wise he would stop where he was till he dropped from the cross like a stone4 ,and this antinomy kept on repeating itself in his mind1 a contradiction as large and staring as the immense contradiction of the ,cross2 he remembered having often heard the words1 8,whosoever shall lose his life the same shall save it40 ,he remembered with a sort of strange pity that this had always been made to mean that whoever lost his physical life should save his spiritual life4 ,now he knew the truth that is known to all fighters1 and hunters1 and climbers of cliffs4 ,he knew that even his animal life could only be saved by a considerable readiness to lose it4 ,some will think it improbable that a human soul swinging desperately in mid-air should think about philosophical inconsistencies4 ,but such extreme states are dangerous things to dogmatize about4 ,frequently they produce a certain useless and joyless activity of the mere intellect1 thought not only divorced from hope but even from desire4 ,and if it is impossible to dogmatize about such states1 it is still more impossible to describe them4 ,to this spasm of sanity and clarity in ,michael's mind succeeded a spasm of the elemental terror2 the terror of the animal in us which regards the whole universe as its enemy2 which1 when it is victorious1 has no pity1 and so1 when it is defeated has no imaginable hope4 ,of that ten minutes of terror it is not possible to speak in human words4 ,but then again in that damnable darkness there began to grow a strange dawn as of grey and pale silver4 ,and of this ultimate resignation or certainty it is even less possible to write2 it is something stranger than hell itself2 it is perhaps the last of the secrets of ,god4 ,at the highest crisis of some incurable anguish there will suddenly fall upon the man the stillness of an insane contentment4 ,it is not hope1 for hope is broken and romantic and concerned with the future2 this is complete and of the present4 ,it is not faith1 for faith by its very nature is fierce1 and as it were at once doubtful and defiant2 but this is simply a satisfaction4 ,it is not knowledge1 for the intellect seems to have no particular part in it4 ,nor is it 7as the modern idiots would certainly say it is7 a mere numbness or negative paralysis of the powers of grief4 ,it is not negative in the least2 it is as positive as good news4 ,in some sense1 indeed1 it is good news4 ,it seems almost as if there were some equality among things1 some balance in all possible contingencies which we are not permitted to know lest we should learn indifference to good and evil1 but which is sometimes shown to us for an instant as a last aid in our last agony4 ,michael certainly could not have given any sort of rational account of this vast unmeaning satisfaction which soaked through him and filled him to the brim4 ,he felt with a sort of half-witted lucidity that the cross was there1 and the ball was there1 and the dome was there1 that he was going to climb down from them1 and that he did not mind in the least whether he was killed or not4 ,this mysterious mood lasted long enough to start him on his dreadful descent and to force him to continue it4 ,but six times before he reached the highest of the outer galleries terror had returned on him like a flying storm of darkness and thunder4 ,by the time he had reached that place of safety he almost felt 7as in some impossible fit of drunkenness7 that he had two heads2 one was calm1 careless1 and efficient2 the other saw the danger like a deadly map1 was wise1 careful1 and useless4 ,he had fancied that he would have to let himself vertically down the face of the whole building4 ,when he dropped into the upper gallery he still felt as far from the terrestrial globe as if he had only dropped from the sun to the moon4 ,he paused a little1 panting in the gallery under the ball1 and idly kicked his heels1 moving a few yards along it4 ,and as he did so a thunderbolt struck his soul4 ,a man1 a heavy1 ordinary man1 with a composed indifferent face1 and a prosaic sort of uniform1 with a row of buttons1 blocked his way4 ,michael had no mind to wonder whether this solid astonished man1 with the brown moustache and the nickel buttons1 had also come on a flying ship4 ,he merely let his mind float in an endless felicity about the man4 ,he thought how nice it would be if he had to live up in that gallery with that one man for ever4 ,he thought how he would luxuriate in the nameless shades of this man's soul and then hear with an endless excitement about the nameless shades of the souls of all his aunts and uncles4 ,a moment before he had been dying alone4 ,now he was living in the same world with a man2 an inexhaustible ecstasy4 ,in the gallery below the ball ,father ,michael had found that man who is the noblest and most divine and most lovable of all men1 better than all the saints1 greater than all the heroes--man ,friday4 ,in the confused colour and music of his new paradise1 ,michael heard only in a faint and distant fashion some remarks that this beautiful solid man seemed to be making to him2 remarks about something or other being after hours and against orders4 ,he also seemed to be asking how ,michael 8got up0 there4 ,this beautiful man evidently felt as ,michael did that the earth was a star and was set in heaven4 ,at length ,michael sated himself with the mere sensual music of the voice of the man in buttons4 ,he began to listen to what he said1 and even to make some attempt at answering a question which appeared to have been put several times and was now put with some excess of emphasis4 ,michael realized that the image of ,god in nickel buttons was asking him how he had come there4 ,he said that he had come in ,lucifer's ship4 ,on his giving this answer the demeanour of the image of ,god underwent a remarkable change4 ,from addressing ,michael gruffly1 as if he were a malefactor1 he began suddenly to speak to him with a sort of eager and feverish amiability as if he were a child4 ,he seemed particularly anxious to coax him away from the balustrade4 ,he led him by the arm towards a door leading into the building itself1 soothing him all the time4 ,he gave what even ,michael 7slight as was his knowledge of the world7 felt to be an improbable account of the sumptuous pleasures and varied advantages awaiting him downstairs4 ,michael followed him1 however1 if only out of politeness1 down an apparently interminable spiral of staircase4 ,at one point a door opened4 ,michael stepped through it1 and the unaccountable man in buttons leapt after him and pinioned him where he stood4 ,but he only wished to stand2 to stand and stare4 ,he had stepped as it were into another infinity1 out under the dome of another heaven4 ,but this was a dome of heaven made by man4 ,the gold and green and crimson of its sunset were not in the shapeless clouds but in shapes of cherubim and seraphim1 awful human shapes with a passionate plumage4 ,its stars were not above but far below1 like fallen stars still in unbroken constellations2 the dome itself was full of darkness4 ,and far below1 lower even than the lights1 could be seen creeping or motionless1 great black masses of men4 ,the tongue of a terrible organ seemed to shake the very air in the whole void2 and through it there came up to ,michael the sound of a tongue more terrible2 the dreadful everlasting voice of man1 calling to his gods from the beginning to the end of the world4 ,michael felt almost as if he were a god1 and all the voices were hurled at him4 8,no1 the pretty things aren't here10 said the demi-god in buttons1 caressingly4 8,the pretty things are downstairs4 ,you come along with me4 ,there's something that will surprise you downstairs2 something you want very much to see40 ,evidently the man in buttons did not feel like a god1 so ,michael made no attempt to explain his feelings to him1 but followed him meekly enough down the trail of the serpentine staircase4 ,he had no notion where or at what level he was4 ,he was still full of the cold splendour of space1 and of what a ,french writer has brilliantly named the 8vertigo of the infinite10 when another door opened1 and with a shock indescribable he found himself on the familiar level1 in a street full of faces1 with the houses and even the lamp-posts above his head4 ,he felt suddenly happy and suddenly indescribably small4 ,he fancied he had been changed into a child again2 his eyes sought the pavement seriously as children's do1 as if it were a thing with which something satisfactory could be done4 ,he felt the full warmth of that pleasure from which the proud shut themselves out2 the pleasure which not only goes with humiliation1 but which almost is humiliation4 ,men who have escaped death by a hair have it1 and men whose love is returned by a woman unexpectedly1 and men whose sins are forgiven them4 ,everything his eye fell on it feasted on1 not aesthetically1 but with a plain1 jolly appetite as of a boy eating buns4 ,he relished the squareness of the houses2 he liked their clean angles as if he had just cut them with a knife4 ,the lit squares of the shop windows excited him as the young are excited by the lit stage of some promising pantomime4 ,he happened to see in one shop which projected with a bulging bravery on to the pavement some square tins of potted meat1 and it seemed like a hint of a hundred hilarious high teas in a hundred streets of the world4 ,he was1 perhaps1 the happiest of all the children of men4 ,for in that unendurable instant when he hung1 half slipping1 to the ball of ,st4 ,paul's1 the whole universe had been destroyed and re-created4 ,suddenly through all the din of the dark streets came a crash of glass4 ,with that mysterious suddenness of the ,cockney mob1 a rush was made in the right direction1 a dingy office1 next to the shop of the potted meat4 ,the pane of glass was lying in splinters about the pavement4 ,and the police already had their hands on a very tall young man1 with dark1 lank hair and dark1 dazed eyes1 with a grey plaid over his shoulder1 who had just smashed the shop window with a single blow of his stick4 8,i'd do it again10 said the young man1 with a furious white face4 8,anybody would have done it4 ,did you see what it said8 ,i swear ,i'd do it again40 ,then his eyes encountered the monkish habit of ,michael1 and he pulled off his grey tam-o'-shanter with the gesture of a ,catholic4 8,father1 did you see what they said80 he cried1 trembling4 8,did you see what they dared to say8 ,i didn't understand it at first4 ,i read it half through before ,i broke the window40 ,michael felt he knew not how4 ,the whole peace of the world was pent up painfully in his heart4 ,the new and childlike world which he had seen so suddenly1 men had not seen at all4 ,here they were still at their old bewildering1 pardonable1 useless quarrels1 with so much to be said on both sides1 and so little that need be said at all4 ,a fierce inspiration fell on him suddenly2 he would strike them where they stood with the love of ,god4 ,they should not move till they saw their own sweet and startling existence4 ,they should not go from that place till they went home embracing like brothers and shouting like men delivered4 ,from the ,cross from which he had fallen fell the shadow of its fantastic mercy2 and the first three words he spoke in a voice like a silver trumpet1 held men as still as stones4 ,perhaps if he had spoken there for an hour in his illumination he might have founded a religion on ,ludgate ,hill4 ,but the heavy hand of his guide fell suddenly on his shoulder4 8,this poor fellow is dotty10 he said good-humouredly to the crowd4 8,i found him wandering in the ,cathedral4 ,says he came in a flying ship4 ,is there a constable to spare to take care of him80 ,there was a constable to spare4 ,two other constables attended to the tall young man in grey2 a fourth concerned himself with the owner of the shop1 who showed some tendency to be turbulent4 ,they took the tall young man away to a magistrate1 whither we shall follow him in an ensuing chapter4 ,and they took the happiest man in the world away to an asylum4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,the ,,stipendiary ,,magistrate ,the editorial office of ,the ,atheist had for some years past become less and less prominently interesting as a feature of ,ludgate ,hill4 ,the paper was unsuited to the atmosphere4 ,it showed an interest in the ,bible unknown in the district1 and a knowledge of that volume to which nobody else on ,ludgate ,hill could make any conspicuous claim4 ,it was in vain that the editor of ,the ,atheist filled his front window with fierce and final demands as to what ,noah in the ,ark did with the neck of the giraffe4 ,it was in vain that he asked violently1 as for the last time1 how the statement 8,god is ,spirit0 could be reconciled with the statement 8,the earth is ,his footstool40 ,it was in vain that he cried with an accusing energy that the ,bishop of ,london was paid ,l#ab1jjj a year for pretending to believe that the whale swallowed ,jonah4 ,it was in vain that he hung in conspicuous places the most thrilling scientific calculations about the width of the throat of a whale4 ,was it nothing to them all they that passed by8 ,did his sudden and splendid and truly sincere indignation never stir any of the people pouring down ,ludgate ,hill8 ,never4 ,the little man who edited ,the ,atheist would rush from his shop on starlit evenings and shake his fist at ,st4 ,paul's in the passion of his holy war upon the holy place4 ,he might have spared his emotion4 ,the cross at the top of ,st4 ,paul's and ,the ,atheist shop at the foot of it were alike remote from the world4 ,the shop and the ,cross were equally uplifted and alone in the empty heavens4 ,to the little man who edited ,the ,atheist1 a fiery little ,scotchman1 with fiery1 red hair and beard1 going by the name of ,turnbull1 all this decline in public importance seemed not so much sad or even mad1 but merely bewildering and unaccountable4 ,he had said the worst thing that could be said2 and it seemed accepted and ignored like the ordinary second best of the politicians4 ,every day his blasphemies looked more glaring1 and every day the dust lay thicker upon them4 ,it made him feel as if he were moving in a world of idiots4 ,he seemed among a race of men who smiled when told of their own death1 or looked vacantly at the ,day of ,judgement4 ,year after year went by1 and year after year the death of ,god in a shop in ,ludgate became a less and less important occurrence4 ,all the forward men of his age discouraged ,turnbull4 ,the socialists said he was cursing priests when he should be cursing capitalists4 ,the artists said that the soul was most spiritual1 not when freed from religion1 but when freed from morality4 ,year after year went by1 and at least a man came by who treated ,mr4 ,turnbull's secularist shop with a real respect and seriousness4 ,he was a young man in a grey plaid1 and he smashed the window4 ,he was a young man1 born in the ,bay of ,arisaig1 opposite ,rum and the ,isle of ,skye4 ,his high1 hawklike features and snaky black hair bore the mark of that unknown historic thing which is crudely called ,celtic1 but which is probably far older than the ,celts1 whoever they were4 ,he was in name and stock a ,highlander of the ,macdonalds2 but his family took1 as was common in such cases1 the name of a subordinate sept as a surname1 and for all the purposes which could be answered in ,london1 he called himself ,evan ,mac,ian4 ,he had been brought up in some loneliness and seclusion as a strict ,roman ,catholic1 in the midst of that little wedge of ,roman ,catholics which is driven into the ,western ,highlands4 ,and he had found his way as far as ,fleet ,street1 seeking some half-promised employment1 without having properly realized that there were in the world any people who were not ,roman ,catholics4 ,he had uncovered himself for a few moments before the statue of ,queen ,anne1 in front of ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral1 under the firm impression that it was a figure of the ,virgin ,mary4 ,he was somewhat surprised at the lack of deference shown to the figure by the people bustling by4 ,he did not understand that their one essential historical principle1 the one law truly graven on their hearts1 was the great and comforting statement that ,queen ,anne is dead4 ,this faith was as fundamental as his faith1 that ,our ,lady was alive4 ,any persons he had talked to since he had touched the fringe of our fashion or civilization had been by a coincidence1 sympathetic or hypocritical4 ,or if they had spoken some established blasphemies1 he had been unable to understand them merely owing to the preoccupied satisfaction of his mind4 ,on that fantastic fringe of the ,gaelic land where he walked as a boy1 the cliffs were as fantastic as the clouds4 ,heaven seemed to humble itself and come closer to the earth4 ,the common paths of his little village began to climb quite suddenly and seemed resolved to go to heaven4 ,the sky seemed to fall down towards the hills2 the hills took hold upon the sky4 ,in the sumptuous sunset of gold and purple and peacock green cloudlets and islets were the same4 ,evan lived like a man walking on a borderland1 the borderland between this world and another4 ,like so many men and nations who grow up with nature and the common things1 he understood the supernatural before he understood the natural4 ,he had looked at dim angels standing knee-deep in the grass before he had looked at the grass4 ,he knew that ,our ,lady's robes were blue before he knew the wild roses round her feet were red4 ,the deeper his memory plunged into the dark house of childhood the nearer and nearer he came to the things that cannot be named4 ,all through his life he thought of the daylight world as a sort of divine debris1 the broken remainder of his first vision4 ,the skies and mountains were the splendid off-scourings of another place4 ,the stars were lost jewels of the ,queen4 ,our ,lady had gone and left the stars by accident4 ,his private tradition was equally wild and unworldly4 ,his great-grandfather had been cut down at ,culloden1 certain in his last instant that ,god would restore the ,king4 ,his grandfather1 then a boy of ten1 had taken the terrible claymore from the hand of the dead and hung it up in his house1 burnishing it and sharpening it for sixty years1 to be ready for the next rebellion4 ,his father1 the youngest son and the last left alive1 had refused to attend on ,queen ,victoria in ,scotland4 ,and ,evan himself had been of one piece with his progenitors2 and was not dead with them1 but alive in the twentieth century4 ,he was not in the least the pathetic ,jacobite of whom we read1 left behind by a final advance of all things4 ,he was1 in his own fancy1 a conspirator1 fierce and up to date4 ,in the long1 dark afternoons of the ,highland winter1 he plotted and fumed in the dark4 ,he drew plans of the capture of ,london on the desolate sand of ,arisaig4 ,when he came up to capture ,london1 it was not with an army of white cockades1 but with a stick and a satchel4 ,london overawed him a little1 not because he thought it grand or even terrible1 but because it bewildered him2 it was not the ,golden ,city or even hell2 it was ,limbo4 ,he had one shock of sentiment1 when he turned that wonderful corner of ,fleet ,street and saw ,st4 ,paul's sitting in the sky4 8,ah10 he said1 after a long pause1 8that sort of thing was built under the ,stuarts60 ,then with a sour grin he asked himself what was the corresponding monument of the ,brunswicks and the ,protestant ,constitution4 ,after some warning1 he selected a sky-sign of some pill4 ,half an hour afterwards his emotions left him with an emptied mind on the same spot4 ,and it was in a mood of mere idle investigation that he happened to come to a standstill opposite the office of ,the ,atheist4 ,he did not see the word 8atheist01 or if he did1 it is quite possible that he did not know the meaning of the word4 ,even as it was1 the document would not have shocked even the innocent ,highlander1 but for the troublesome and quite unforeseen fact that the innocent ,highlander read it stolidly to the end2 a thing unknown among the most enthusiastic subscribers to the paper1 and calculated in any case to create a new situation4 ,with a smart journalistic instinct characteristic of all his school1 the editor of ,the ,atheist had put first in his paper and most prominently in his window an article called 8,the ,mesopotamian ,mythology and its ,effects on ,syriac ,folk ,lore40 ,mr4 ,evan ,mac,ian began to read this quite idly1 as he would have read a public statement beginning with a young girl dying in ,brighton and ending with ,bile ,beans4 ,he received the very considerable amount of information accumulated by the author with that tired clearness of the mind which children have on heavy summer afternoons--that tired clearness which leads them to go on asking questions long after they have lost interest in the subject and are as bored as their nurse4 ,the streets were full of people and empty of adventures4 ,he might as well know about the gods of ,mesopotamia as not2 so he flattened his long1 lean face against the dim bleak pane of the window and read all there was to read about ,mesopotamian gods4 ,he read how the ,mesopotamians had a god named ,sho 7sometimes pronounced ,ji71 and that he was described as being very powerful1 a striking similarity to some expressions about ,jahveh1 who is also described as having power4 ,evan had never heard of ,jahveh in his life1 and imagining him to be some other ,mesopotamian idol1 read on with a dull curiosity4 ,he learnt that the name ,sho1 under its third form of ,psa1 occurs in an early legend which describes how the deity1 after the manner of ,jupiter on so many occasions1 seduced a ,virgin and begat a hero4 ,this hero1 whose name is not essential to our existence1 was1 it was said1 the chief hero and ,saviour of the ,mesopotamian ethical scheme4 ,then followed a paragraph giving other examples of such heroes and ,saviours being born of some profligate intercourse between ,god and mortal4 ,then followed a paragraph--but ,evan did not understand it4 ,he read it again and then again4 ,then he did understand it4 ,the glass fell in ringing fragments on to the pavement1 and ,evan sprang over the barrier into the shop1 brandishing his stick4 8,what is this80 cried little ,mr4 ,turnbull1 starting up with hair aflame4 8,how dare you break my window80 8,because it was the quickest cut to you10 cried ,evan1 stamping4 8,stand up and fight1 you crapulous coward4 ,you dirty lunatic1 stand up1 will you8 ,have you any weapons here80 8,are you mad80 asked ,turnbull1 glaring4 8,are you80 cried ,evan4 8,can you be anything else when you plaster your own house with that ,god-defying filth8 ,stand up and fight1 ,i say40 ,a great light like dawn came into ,mr4 ,turnbull's face4 ,behind his red hair and beard he turned deadly pale with pleasure4 ,here1 after twenty lone years of useless toil1 he had his reward4 ,someone was angry with the paper4 ,he bounded to his feet like a boy2 he saw a new youth opening before him4 ,and as not unfrequently happens to middle-aged gentlemen when they see a new youth opening before them1 he found himself in the presence of the police4 ,the policemen1 after some ponderous questionings1 collared both the two enthusiasts4 ,they were more respectful1 however1 to the young man who had smashed the window1 than to the miscreant who had had his window smashed4 ,there was an air of refined mystery about ,evan ,mac,ian1 which did not exist in the irate little shopkeeper1 an air of refined mystery which appealed to the policemen1 for policemen1 like most other ,english types1 are at once snobs and poets4 ,mac,ian might possibly be a gentleman1 they felt2 the editor manifestly was not4 ,and the editor's fine rational republican appeals to his respect for law1 and his ardour to be tried by his fellow citizens1 seemed to the police quite as much gibberish as ,evan's mysticism could have done4 ,the police were not used to hearing principles1 even the principles of their own existence4 ,the police magistrate1 before whom they were hurried and tried1 was a ,mr4 ,cumberland ,vane1 a cheerful1 middle-aged gentleman1 honourably celebrated for the lightness of his sentences and the lightness of his conversation4 ,he occasionally worked himself up into a sort of theoretic rage about certain particular offenders1 such as the men who took pokers to their wives1 talked in a loose1 sentimental way about the desirability of flogging them1 and was hopelessly bewildered by the fact that the wives seemed even more angry with him than with their husbands4 ,he was a tall1 spruce man1 with a twist of black moustache and incomparable morning dress4 ,he looked like a gentleman1 and yet1 somehow1 like a stage gentleman4 ,he had often treated serious crimes against mere order or property with a humane flippancy4 ,hence1 about the mere breaking of an editor's window1 he was almost uproarious4 8,come1 ,mr4 ,mac,ian1 come10 he said1 leaning back in his chair1 8do you generally enter you friends' houses by walking through the glass80 7,laughter47 8,he is not my friend10 said ,evan1 with the stolidity of a dull child4 8,not your friend1 eh80 said the magistrate1 sparkling4 8,is he your brother-in-law80 7,loud and prolonged laughter47 8,he is my enemy10 said ,evan1 simply2 8he is the enemy of ,god40 ,mr4 ,vane shifted sharply in his seat1 dropping the eye-glass out of his eye in a momentary and not unmanly embarrassment4 8,you mustn't talk like that here10 he said1 roughly1 and in a kind of hurry1 8that has nothing to do with us40 ,evan opened his great1 blue eyes2 8,god10 he began4 8,be quiet10 said the magistrate1 angrily1 8it is most undesirable that things of that sort should be spoken about--a--in public1 and in an ordinary ,court of ,justice4 ,religion is--a--too personal a matter to be mentioned in such a place40 8,is it80 answered the ,highlander1 8then what did those policemen swear by just now80 8,that is no parallel10 answered ,vane1 rather irritably2 8of course there is a form of oath--to be taken reverently--reverently1 and there's an end of it4 ,but to talk in a public place about one's most sacred and private sentiments--well1 ,i call it bad taste4 7,slight applause47 ,i call it irreverent4 ,i call it irreverent1 and ,i'm not specially orthodox either40 8,i see you are not10 said ,evan1 8but ,i am40 8,we are wondering from the point10 said the police magistrate1 pulling himself together4 8,may ,i ask why you smashed this worthy citizen's window80 ,evan turned a little pale at the mere memory1 but he answered with the same cold and deadly literalism that he showed throughout4 8,because he blasphemed ,our ,lady40 8,i tell you once and for all10 cried ,mr4 ,cumberland ,vane1 rapping his knuckles angrily on the table1 8,i tell you1 once and for all1 my man1 that ,i will not have you turning on any religious rant or cant here4 ,don't imagine that it will impress me4 ,the most religious people are not those who talk about it4 7,applause47 ,you answer the questions and do nothing else40 8,i did nothing else10 said ,evan1 with a slight smile4 8,eh10 cried ,vane1 glaring through his eye-glass4 8,you asked me why ,i broke his window10 said ,mac,ian1 with a face of wood4 8,i answered1 ',because he blasphemed ,our ,lady4' ,i had no other reason4 ,so ,i have no other answer40 ,vane continued to gaze at him with a sternness not habitual to him4 8,you are not going the right way to work1 ,sir10 he said1 with severity4 8,you are not going the right way to work to--a--have your case treated with special consideration4 ,if you had simply expressed regret for what you had done1 ,i should have been strongly inclined to dismiss the matter as an outbreak of temper4 ,even now1 if you say that you are sorry ,i shall only----0 8,but ,i am not in the least sorry10 said ,evan1 8,i am very pleased40 8,i really believe you are insane10 said the stipendiary1 indignantly1 for he had really been doing his best as a good-natured man1 to compose the dispute4 8,what conceivable right have you to break other people's windows because their opinions do not agree with yours8 ,this man only gave expression to his sincere belief40 8,so did ,i10 said the ,highlander4 8,and who are you80 exploded ,vane4 8,are your views necessarily the right ones8 ,are you necessarily in possession of the truth80 8,yes10 said ,mac,ian4 ,the magistrate broke into a contemptuous laugh4 8,oh1 you want a nurse to look after you10 he said4 8,you must pay ,l#aj40 ,evan ,mac,ian plunged his hands into his loose grey garment and drew out a queer looking leather purse4 ,it contained exactly twelve sovereigns4 ,he paid down the ten1 coin by coin1 in silence1 and equally silently returned the remaining two to the receptacle4 ,then he said1 8,may ,i say a word1 your worship80 ,cumberland ,vane seemed half hypnotized with the silence and automatic movements of the stranger2 he made a movement with his head which might have been either 8yes0 or 8no04 8,i only wished to say1 your worship10 said ,mac,ian1 putting back the purse in his trouser pocket1 8that smashing that shop window was1 ,i confess1 a useless and rather irregular business4 ,it may be excused1 however1 as a mere preliminary to further proceedings1 a sort of preface4 ,wherever and whenever ,i meet that man10 and he pointed to the editor of ,the ,atheist1 8whether it be outside this door in ten minutes from now1 or twenty years hence in some distant country1 wherever and whenever ,i meet that man1 ,i will fight him4 ,do not be afraid4 ,i will not rush at him like a bully1 or bear him down with any brute superiority4 ,i will fight him like a gentleman2 ,i will fight him as our fathers fought4 ,he shall choose how1 sword or pistol1 horse or foot4 ,but if he refuses1 ,i will write his cowardice on every wall in the world4 ,if he had said of my mother what he said of the ,mother of ,god1 there is not a club of clean men in ,europe that would deny my right to call him out4 ,if he had said it of my wife1 you ,english would yourselves have pardoned me for beating him like a dog in the market place4 ,your worship1 ,i have no mother2 ,i have no wife4 ,i have only that which the poor have equally with the rich2 which the lonely have equally with the man of many friends4 ,to me this whole strange world is homely1 because in the heart of it there is a home2 to me this cruel world is kindly1 because higher than the heavens there is something more human than humanity4 ,if a man must not fight for this1 may he fight for anything8 ,i would fight for my friend1 but if ,i lost my friend1 ,i should still be there4 ,i would fight for my country1 but if ,i lost my country1 ,i should still exist4 ,but if what that devil dreams were true1 ,i should not be--,i should burst like a bubble and be gone4 ,i could not live in that imbecile universe4 ,shall ,i not fight for my own existence80 ,the magistrate recovered his voice and his presence of mind4 ,the first part of the speech1 the bombastic and brutally practical challenge1 stunned him with surprise2 but the rest of ,evan's remarks1 branching off as they did into theoretic phrases1 gave his vague and very ,english mind 7full of memories of the hedging and compromise in ,english public speaking7 an indistinct sensation of relief1 as if the man1 though mad1 were not so dangerous as he had thought4 ,he went into a sort of weary laughter4 8,for ,heaven's sake1 man10 he said1 8don't talk so much4 ,let other people have a chance 7laughter74 ,i trust all that you said about asking ,mr4 ,turnbull to fight1 may be regarded as rubbish4 ,in case of accidents1 however1 ,i must bind you over to keep the peace40 8,to keep the peace10 repeated ,evan1 8with whom80 8,with ,mr4 ,turnbull10 said ,vane4 8,certainly not10 answered ,mac,ian4 8,what has he to do with peace80 8,do you mean to say10 began the magistrate1 8that you refuse to4440 ,the voice of ,turnbull himself clove in for the first time4 8,might ,i suggest10 he said1 8,that ,i1 your worship1 can settle to some extent this absurd matter myself4 ,this rather wild gentleman promises that he will not attack me with any ordinary assault--and if he does1 you may be sure the police shall hear of it4 ,but he says he will not4 ,he says he will challenge me to a duel2 and ,i cannot say anything stronger about his mental state than to say that ,i think that it is highly probable that he will4 7,laughter47 ,but it takes two to make a duel1 your worship 7renewed laughter74 ,i do not in the least mind being described on every wall in the world as the coward who would not fight a man in ,fleet ,street1 about whether the ,virgin ,mary had a parallel in ,mesopotamian mythology4 ,no1 your worship4 ,you need not trouble to bind him over to keep the peace4 ,i bind myself over to keep the peace1 and you may rest quite satisfied that there will be no duel with me in it40 ,mr4 ,cumberland ,vane rolled about1 laughing in a sort of relief4 8,you're like a breath of ,april1 sir10 he cried4 8,you're ozone after that fellow4 ,you're perfectly right4 ,perhaps ,i have taken the thing too seriously4 ,i should love to see him sending you challenges and to see you smiling4 ,well1 well40 ,evan went out of the ,court of ,justice free1 but strangely shaken1 like a sick man4 ,any punishment of suppression he would have felt as natural2 but the sudden juncture between the laughter of his judge and the laughter of the man he had wronged1 made him feel suddenly small1 or at least1 defeated4 ,it was really true that the whole modern world regarded his world as a bubble4 ,no cruelty could have shown it1 but their kindness showed it with a ghastly clearness4 ,as he was brooding1 he suddenly became conscious of a small1 stern figure1 fronting him in silence4 ,its eyes were grey and awful1 and its beard red4 ,it was ,turnbull4 8,well1 sir10 said the editor of ,the ,atheist1 8where is the fight to be8 ,name the field1 sir40 ,evan stood thunderstruck4 ,he stammered out something1 he knew not what2 he only guessed it by the answer of the other4 8,do ,i want to fight8 ,do ,i want to fight80 cried the furious ,free-thinker4 8,why1 you moonstruck scarecrow of superstition1 do you think your dirty saints are the only people who can die8 ,haven't you hung atheists1 and burned them1 and boiled them1 and did they ever deny their faith8 ,do you think we don't want to fight8 ,night and day ,i have prayed--,i have longed--for an atheist revolution--,i have longed to see your blood and ours on the streets4 ,let it be yours or mine80 8,but you said4440 began ,mac,ian4 8,i know10 said ,turnbull scornfully4 8,and what did you say8 ,you damned fool1 you said things that might have got us locked up for a year1 and shadowed by the coppers for half a decade4 ,if you wanted to fight1 why did you tell that ass you wanted to8 ,i got you out1 to fight if you want to4 ,now1 fight if you dare40 8,i swear to you1 then10 said ,mac,ian1 after a pause4 8,i swear to you that nothing shall come between us4 ,i swear to you that nothing shall be in my heart or in my head till our swords clash together4 ,i swear it by the ,god you have denied1 by the ,blessed ,lady you have blasphemed2 ,i swear it by the seven swords in her heart4 ,i swear it by the ,holy ,island where my fathers are1 by the honour of my mother1 by the secret of my people1 and by the chalice of the ,blood of ,god40 ,the atheist drew up his head4 8,and ,i10 he said1 8give my word40 ,,iii4 ,,some ,,old ,,curiosities ,the evening sky1 a dome of solid gold1 unflaked even by a single sunset cloud1 steeped the meanest sights of ,london in a strange and mellow light4 ,it made a little greasy street of ,st4 ,martin's ,lane look as if it were paved with gold4 ,it made the pawnbroker's half-way down it shine as if it were really that ,mountain of ,piety that the ,french poetic instinct has named it2 it made the mean pseudo-,french bookshop1 next but one to it1 a shop packed with dreary indecency1 show for a moment a kind of ,parisian colour4 ,and the shop that stood between the pawnshop and the shop of dreary indecency1 showed with quite a blaze of old world beauty1 for it was1 by accident1 a shop not unbeautiful in itself4 ,the front window had a glimmer of bronze and blue steel1 lit1 as by a few stars1 by the sparks of what were alleged to be jewels2 for it was in brief1 a shop of bric-a-brac and old curiosities4 ,a row of half-burnished seventeenth-century swords ran like an ornate railing along the front of the window2 behind was a darker glimmer of old oak and old armour2 and higher up hung the most extraordinary looking ,south ,sea tools or utensils1 whether designed for killing enemies or merely for cooking them1 no mere white man could possibly conjecture4 ,but the romance of the eye1 which really on this rich evening1 clung about the shop1 had its main source in the accident of two doors standing open1 the front door that opened on the street and a back door that opened on an odd green square of garden1 that the sun turned to a square of gold4 ,there is nothing more beautiful than thus to look as it were through the archway of a house2 as if the open sky were an interior chamber1 and the sun a secret lamp of the place4 ,i have suggested that the sunset light made everything lovely4 ,to say that it made the keeper of the curiosity shop lovely would be a tribute to it perhaps too extreme4 ,it would easily have made him beautiful if he had been merely squalid2 if he had been a ,jew of the ,fagin type4 ,but he was a ,jew of another and much less admirable type2 a ,jew with a very well-sounding name4 ,for though there are no hard tests for separating the tares and the wheat of any people1 one rude but efficient guide is that the nice ,jew is called ,moses ,solomon1 and the nasty ,jew is called ,thornton ,percy4 ,the keeper of the curiosity shop was of the ,thornton ,percy branch of the chosen people2 he belonged to those ,lost ,ten ,tribes whose industrious object is to lose themselves4 ,he was a man still young1 but already corpulent1 with sleek dark hair1 heavy handsome clothes1 and a full1 fat1 permanent smile1 which looked at the first glance kindly1 and at the second cowardly4 ,the name over his shop was ,henry ,gordon1 but two ,scotchmen who were in his shop that evening could come upon no trace of a ,scotch accent4 ,these two ,scotchmen in this shop were careful purchasers1 but free-handed payers4 ,one of them who seemed to be the principal and the authority 7whom1 indeed1 ,mr4 ,henry ,gordon fancied he had seen somewhere before71 was a small1 sturdy fellow1 with fine grey eyes1 a square red tie and a square red beard1 that he carried aggressively forward as if he defied anyone to pull it4 ,the other kept so much in the background in comparison that he looked almost ghostly in his grey cloak or plaid1 a tall1 sallow1 silent young man4 ,the two ,scotchmen were interested in seventeenth-century swords4 ,they were fastidious about them4 ,they had a whole armoury of these weapons brought out and rolled clattering about the counter1 until they found two of precisely the same length4 ,presumably they desired the exact symmetry for some decorative trophy4 ,even then they felt the points1 poised the swords for balance and bent them in a circle to see that they sprang straight again2 which1 for decorative purposes1 seems carrying realism rather far4 8,these will do10 said the strange person with the red beard4 8,and perhaps ,i had better pay for them at once4 ,and as you are the challenger1 ,mr4 ,mac,ian1 perhaps you had better explain the situation40 ,the tall ,scotchman in grey took a step forward and spoke in a voice quite clear and bold1 and yet somehow lifeless1 like a man going through an ancient formality4 8,the fact is1 ,mr4 ,gordon1 we have to place our honour in your hands4 ,words have passed between ,mr4 ,turnbull and myself on a grave and invaluable matter1 which can only be atoned for by fighting4 ,unfortunately1 as the police are in some sense pursuing us1 we are hurried1 and must fight now and without seconds4 ,but if you will be so kind as to take us into your little garden and see far play1 we shall feel how----0 ,the shopman recovered himself from a stunning surprise and burst out3 8,gentlemen1 are you drunk8 ,a duel6 ,a duel in my garden4 ,go home1 gentlemen1 go home4 ,why1 what did you quarrel about80 8,we quarrelled10 said ,evan1 in the same dead voice1 8about religion40 ,the fat shopkeeper rolled about in his chair with enjoyment4 8,well1 this is a funny game10 he said4 8,so you want to commit murder on behalf of religion4 ,well1 well my religion is a little respect for humanity1 and----0 8,excuse me10 cut in ,turnbull1 suddenly and fiercely1 pointing towards the pawnbroker's next door4 8,don't you own that shop80 8,why--er--yes10 said ,gordon4 8,and don't you own that shop80 repeated the secularist1 pointing backward to the pornographic bookseller4 8,what if ,i do80 8,why1 then10 cried ,turnbull1 with grating contempt4 8,i will leave the religion of humanity confidently in your hands2 but ,i am sorry ,i troubled you about such a thing as honour4 ,look here1 my man4 ,i do believe in humanity4 ,i do believe in liberty4 ,my father died for it under the swords of the ,yeomanry4 ,i am going to die for it1 if need be1 under that sword on your counter4 ,but if there is one sight that makes me doubt it it is your foul fat face4 ,it is hard to believe you were not meant to be ruled like a dog or killed like a cockroach4 ,don't try your slave's philosophy on me4 ,we are going to fight1 and we are going to fight in your garden1 with your swords4 ,be still6 ,raise your voice above a whisper1 and ,i run you through the body40 ,turnbull put the bright point of the sword against the gay waistcoat of the dealer1 who stood choking with rage and fear1 and an astonishment so crushing as to be greater than either4 8,mac,ian10 said ,turnbull1 falling almost into the familiar tone of a business partner1 8,mac,ian1 tie up this fellow and put a gag in his mouth4 ,be still1 ,i say1 or ,i kill you where you stand40 ,the man was too frightened to scream1 but he struggled wildly1 while ,evan ,mac,ian1 whose long1 lean hands were unusually powerful1 tightened some old curtain cords round him1 strapped a rope gag in his mouth and rolled him on his back on the floor4 8,there's nothing very strong here10 said ,evan1 looking about him4 8,i'm afraid he'll work through that gag in half an hour or so40 8,yes10 said ,turnbull1 8but one of us will be killed by that time40 8,well1 let's hope so10 said the ,highlander1 glancing doubtfully at the squirming thing on the floor4 8,and now10 said ,turnbull1 twirling his fiery moustache and fingering his sword1 8let us go into the garden4 ,what an exquisite summer evening60 ,mac,ian said nothing1 but lifting his sword from the counter went out into the sun4 ,the brilliant light ran along the blades1 filling the channels of them with white fire2 the combatants stuck their swords in the turf and took off their hats1 coats1 waistcoats1 and boots4 ,evan said a short ,latin prayer to himself1 during which ,turnbull made something of a parade of lighting a cigarette which he flung away the instant after1 when he saw ,mac,ian apparently standing ready4 ,yet ,mac,ian was not exactly ready4 ,he stood staring like a man stricken with a trance4 8,what are you staring at80 asked ,turnbull4 8,do you see the bobbies80 8,i see ,jerusalem10 said ,evan1 8all covered with the shields and standards of the ,saracens40 8,jerusalem60 said ,turnbull1 laughing4 8,well1 we've taken the only inhabitant into captivity40 ,and he picked up his sword and made it whistle like a boy's wand4 8,i beg your pardon10 said ,mac,ian1 dryly4 8,let us begin40 ,mac,ian made a military salute with his weapon1 which ,turnbull copied or parodied with an impatient contempt2 and in the stillness of the garden the swords came together with a clear sound like a bell4 ,the instant the blades touched1 each felt them tingle to their very points with a personal vitality1 as if they were two naked nerves of steel4 ,evan had worn throughout an air of apathy1 which might have been the stale apathy of one who wants nothing4 ,but it was indeed the more dreadful apathy of one who wants something and will care for nothing else4 ,and this was seen suddenly2 for the instant ,evan engaged he disengaged and lunged with an infernal violence4 ,his opponent with a desperate promptitude parried and riposted2 the parry only just succeeded1 the riposte failed4 ,something big and unbearable seemed to have broken finally out of ,evan in that first murderous lunge1 leaving him lighter and cooler and quicker upon his feet4 ,he fell to again1 fiercely still1 but now with a fierce caution4 ,the next moment ,turnbull lunged2 ,mac,ian seemed to catch the point and throw it away from him1 and was thrusting back like a thunderbolt1 when a sound paralysed him2 another sound beside their ringing weapons4 ,turnbull1 perhaps from an equal astonishment1 perhaps from chivalry1 stopped also and forebore to send his sword through his exposed enemy4 8,what's that80 asked ,evan1 hoarsely4 ,a heavy scraping sound1 as of a trunk being dragged along a littered floor1 came from the dark shop behind them4 8,the old ,jew has broken one of his strings1 and he's crawling about10 said ,turnbull4 8,be quick6 ,we must finish before he gets his gag out40 8,yes1 yes1 quick6 ,on guard60 cried the ,highlander4 ,the blades crossed again with the same sound like song1 and the men went to work again with the same white and watchful faces4 ,evan1 in his impatience1 went back a little to his wildness4 ,he made windmills1 as the ,french duellists say1 and though he was probably a shade the better fencer of the two1 he found the other's point pass his face twice so close as almost to graze his cheek4 ,the second time he realized the actual possibility of defeat and pulled himself together under a shock of the sanity of anger4 ,he narrowed1 and1 so to speak1 tightened his operations3 he fenced 7as the swordsman's boast goes71 in a wedding ring2 he turned ,turnbull's thrusts with a maddening and almost mechanical click1 like that of a machine4 ,whenever ,turnbull's sword sought to go over that other mere white streak it seemed to be caught in a complex network of steel4 ,he turned one thrust1 turned another1 turned another4 ,then suddenly he went forward at the lunge with his whole living weight4 ,turnbull leaped back1 but ,evan lunged and lunged and lunged again like a devilish piston rod or battering ram4 ,and high above all the sound of the struggle there broke into the silent evening a bellowing human voice1 nasal1 raucous1 at the highest pitch of pain4 8,help6 ,help6 ,police6 ,murder6 ,murder60 ,the gag was broken2 and the tongue of terror was loose4 8,keep on60 gasped ,turnbull4 8,one may be killed before they come40 ,the voice of the screaming shopkeeper was loud enough to drown not only the noise of the swords but all other noises around it1 but even through its rending din there seemed to be some other stir or scurry4 ,and ,evan1 in the very act of thrusting at ,turnbull1 saw something in his eyes that made him drop his sword4 ,the atheist1 with his grey eyes at their widest and wildest1 was staring straight over his shoulder at the little archway of shop that opened on the street beyond4 ,and he saw the archway blocked and blackened with strange figures4 8,we must bolt1 ,mac,ian10 he said abruptly4 8,and there isn't a damned second to lose either4 ,do as ,i do40 ,with a bound he was beside the little cluster of his clothes and boots that lay on the lawn2 he snatched them up1 without waiting to put any of them on2 and tucking his sword under his other arm1 went wildly at the wall at the bottom of the garden and swung himself over it4 ,three seconds after he had alighted in his socks on the other side1 ,mac,ian alighted beside him1 also in his socks and also carrying clothes and sword in a desperate bundle4 ,they were in a by-street1 very lean and lonely itself1 but so close to a crowded thoroughfare that they could see the vague masses of vehicles going by1 and could even see an individual hansom cab passing the corner at the instant4 ,turnbull put his fingers to his mouth like a gutter-snipe and whistled twice4 ,even as he did so he could hear the loud voices of the neighbours and the police coming down the garden4 ,the hansom swung sharply and came tearing down the little lane at his call4 ,when the cabman saw his fares1 however1 two wild-haired men in their shirts and socks with naked swords under their arms1 he not unnaturally brought his readiness to a rigid stop and stared suspiciously4 8,you talk to him a minute10 whispered ,turnbull1 and stepped back into the shadow of the wall4 8,we want you10 said ,mac,ian to the cabman1 with a superb ,scotch drawl of indifference and assurance1 8to drive us to ,st4 ,pancras ,station--verra quick40 8,very sorry1 sir10 said the cabman1 8but ,i'd like to know it was all right4 ,might ,i arst where you come from1 sir80 ,a second after he spoke ,mac,ian heard a heavy voice on the other side of the wall1 saying3 8,i suppose ,i'd better get over and look for them4 ,give me a back40 8,cabby10 said ,mac,ian1 again assuming the most deliberate and lingering lowland ,scotch intonation1 8if ye're really verra anxious to ken whar a' come fra'1 ,i'll tell ye as a verra great secret4 ,a' come from ,scotland4 ,and a'm gaein' to ,st4 ,pancras ,station4 ,open the doors1 cabby40 ,the cabman stared1 but laughed4 ,the heavy voice behind the wall said3 8,now then1 a better back this time1 ,mr4 ,price40 ,and from the shadow of the wall ,turnbull crept out4 ,he had struggled wildly into his coat 7leaving his waistcoat on the pavement71 and he was with a fierce pale face climbing up the cab behind the cabman4 ,mac,ian had no glimmering notion of what he was up to1 but an instinct of discipline1 inherited from a hundred men of war1 made him stick to his own part and trust the other man's4 8,open the doors1 cabby10 he repeated1 with something of the obstinate solemnity of a drunkard1 8open the doors4 ,did ye no hear me say ,st4 ,pancras ,station80 ,the top of a policeman's helmet appeared above the garden wall4 ,the cabman did not see it1 but he was still suspicious and began3 8,very sorry1 sir1 but4440 and with that the catlike ,turnbull tore him out of his seat and hurled him into the street below1 where he lay suddenly stunned4 8,give me his hat10 said ,turnbull in a silver voice1 that the other obeyed like a bugle4 8,and get inside with the swords40 ,and just as the red and raging face of a policeman appeared above the wall1 ,turnbull struck the horse with a terrible cut of the whip and the two went whirling away like a boomerang4 ,they had spun through seven streets and three or four squares before anything further happened4 ,then1 in the neighbourhood of ,maida ,vale1 the driver opened the trap and talked through it in a manner not wholly common in conversations through that aperture4 8,mr4 ,mac,ian10 he said shortly and civilly4 8,mr4 ,turnbull10 replied his motionless fare4 8,under circumstances such as those in which we were both recently placed there was no time for anything but very abrupt action4 ,i trust therefore that you have no cause to complain of me if ,i have deferred until this moment a consultation with you on our present position or future action4 ,our present position1 ,mr4 ,mac,ian1 ,i imagine that ,i am under no special necessity of describing4 ,we have broken the law and we are fleeing from its officers4 ,our future action is a thing about which ,i myself entertain sufficiently strong views2 but ,i have no right to assume or to anticipate yours1 though ,i may have formed a decided conception of your character and a decided notion of what they will probably be4 ,still1 by every principle of intellectual justice1 ,i am bound to ask you now and seriously whether you wish to continue our interrupted relations40 ,mac,ian leant his white and rather weary face back upon the cushions in order to speak up through the open door4 8,mr4 ,turnbull10 he said1 8,i have nothing to add to what ,i have said before4 ,it is strongly borne in upon me that you and ,i1 the sole occupants of this runaway cab1 are at this moment the two most important people in ,london1 possibly in ,europe4 ,i have been looking at all the streets as we went past1 ,i have been looking at all the shops as we went past1 ,i have been looking at all the churches as we went past4 ,at first1 ,i felt a little dazed with the vastness of it all4 ,i could not understand what it all meant4 ,but now ,i know exactly what it all means4 ,it means us4 ,this whole civilization is only a dream4 ,you and ,i are the realities40 8,religious symbolism10 said ,mr4 ,turnbull1 through the trap1 8does not1 as you are probably aware1 appeal ordinarily to thinkers of the school to which ,i belong4 ,but in symbolism as you use it in this instance1 ,i must1 ,i think1 concede a certain truth4 ,we must fight this thing out somewhere2 because1 as you truly say1 we have found each other's reality4 ,we must kill each other--or convert each other4 ,i used to think all ,christians were hypocrites1 and ,i felt quite mildly towards them really4 ,but ,i know you are sincere--and my soul is mad against you4 ,in the same way you used1 ,i suppose1 to think that all atheists thought atheism would leave them free for immorality--and yet in your heart you tolerated them entirely4 ,now you know that ,i am an honest man1 and you are mad against me1 as ,i am against you4 ,yes1 that's it4 ,you can't be angry with bad men4 ,but a good man in the wrong--why one thirsts for his blood4 ,yes1 you open for me a vista of thought40 8,don't run into anything10 said ,evan1 immovably4 8,there's something in that view of yours1 too10 said ,turnbull1 and shut down the trap4 ,they sped on through shining streets that shot by them like arrows4 ,mr4 ,turnbull had evidently a great deal of unused practical talent which was unrolling itself in this ridiculous adventure4 ,they had got away with such stunning promptitude that the police chase had in all probability not even properly begun4 ,but in case it had1 the amateur cabman chose his dizzy course through ,london with a strange dexterity4 ,he did not do what would have first occurred to any ordinary outsider desiring to destroy his tracks4 ,he did not cut into by-ways or twist his way through mean streets4 ,his amateur common sense told him that it was precisely the poor street1 the side street1 that would be likely to remember and report the passing of a hansom cab1 like the passing of a royal procession4 ,he kept chiefly to the great roads1 so full of hansoms that a wilder pair than they might easily have passed in the press4 ,in one of the quieter streets ,evan put on his boots4 ,towards the top of ,albany ,street the singular cabman again opened the trap4 8,mr4 ,mac,ian10 he said1 8,i understand that we have now definitely settled that in the conventional language honour is not satisfied4 ,our action must at least go further than it has gone under recent interrupted conditions4 ,that1 ,i believe1 is understood40 8,perfectly10 replied the other with his bootlace in his teeth4 8,under those conditions10 continued ,turnbull1 his voice coming through the hole with a slight note of trepidation very unusual with him1 8,i have a suggestion to make1 if that can be called a suggestion1 which has probably occurred to you as readily as to me4 ,until the actual event comes off we are practically in the position if not of comrades1 at least of business partners4 ,until the event comes off1 therefore ,i should suggest that quarrelling would be inconvenient and rather inartistic2 while the ordinary exchange of politeness between man and man would be not only elegant but uncommonly practical40 8,you are perfectly right10 answered ,mac,ian1 with his melancholy voice1 8in saying that all this has occurred to me4 ,all duellists should behave like gentlemen to each other4 ,but we1 by the queerness of our position1 are something much more than either duellists or gentlemen4 ,we are1 in the oddest and most exact sense of the term1 brothers--in arms40 8,mr4 ,mac,ian10 replied ,turnbull1 calmly1 8no more need be said40 ,and he closed the trap once more4 ,they had reached ,finchley ,road before he opened it again4 ,then he said1 8,mr4 ,mac,ian1 may ,i offer you a cigar4 ,it will be a touch of realism40 8,thank you10 answered ,evan4 8,you are very kind40 ,and he began to smoke in the cab4 ,,iv4 ,a ,,discussion ,,at ,,dawn ,the duellists had from their own point of view escaped or conquered the chief powers of the modern world4 ,they had satisfied the magistrate1 they had tied the tradesman neck and heels1 and they had left the police behind4 ,as far as their own feelings went they had melted into a monstrous sea2 they were but the fare and driver of one of the million hansoms that fill ,london streets4 ,but they had forgotten something2 they had forgotten journalism4 ,they had forgotten that there exists in the modern world1 perhaps for the first time in history1 a class of people whose interest is not that things should happen well or happen badly1 should happen successfully or happen unsuccessfully1 should happen to the advantage of this party or the advantage of that part1 but whose interest simply is that things should happen4 ,it is the one great weakness of journalism as a picture of our modern existence1 that it must be a picture made up entirely of exceptions4 ,we announce on flaring posters that a man has fallen off a scaffolding4 ,we do not announce on flaring posters that a man has not fallen off a scaffolding4 ,yet this latter fact is fundamentally more exciting1 as indicating that that moving tower of terror and mystery1 a man1 is still abroad upon the earth4 ,that the man has not fallen off a scaffolding is really more sensational2 and it is also some thousand times more common4 ,but journalism cannot reasonably be expected thus to insist upon the permanent miracles4 ,busy editors cannot be expected to put on their posters1 8,mr4 ,wilkinson ,still ,safe10 or 8,mr4 ,jones1 of ,worthing1 ,not ,dead ,yet40 ,they cannot announce the happiness of mankind at all4 ,they cannot describe all the forks that are not stolen1 or all the marriages that are not judiciously dissolved4 ,hence the complete picture they give of life is of necessity fallacious2 they can only represent what is unusual4 ,however democratic they may be1 they are only concerned with the minority4 ,the incident of the religious fanatic who broke a window on ,ludgate ,hill was alone enough to set them up in good copy for the night4 ,but when the same man was brought before a magistrate and defied his enemy to mortal combat in the open court1 then the columns would hardly hold the excruciating information1 and the headlines were so large that there was hardly room for any of the text4 ,the ,daily ,telegraph headed a column1 8,a ,duel on ,divinity10 and there was a correspondence afterwards which lasted for months1 about whether police magistrates ought to mention religion4 ,the ,daily ,mail in its dull1 sensible way1 headed the events1 8,wanted to fight for the ,virgin40 ,mr4 ,james ,douglas1 in ,the ,star1 presuming on his knowledge of philosophical and theological terms1 described the ,christian's outbreak under the title of 8,dualist and ,duellist40 ,the ,daily ,news inserted a colourless account of the matter1 but was pursued and eaten up for some weeks1 with letters from outlying ministers1 headed 8,murder and ,mariolatry40 ,but the journalistic temperature was steadily and consistently heated by all these influences2 the journalists had tasted blood1 prospectively1 and were in the mood for more2 everything in the matter prepared them for further outbursts of moral indignation4 ,and when a gasping reporter rushed in in the last hours of the evening with the announcement that the two heroes of the ,police ,court had literally been found fighting in a ,london back garden1 with a shopkeeper bound and gagged in the front of the house1 the editors and sub-editors were stricken still as men are by great beatitudes4 ,the next morning1 five or six of the great ,london dailies burst out simultaneously into great blossoms of eloquent leader-writing4 ,towards the end all the leaders tended to be the same1 but they all began differently4 ,the ,daily ,telegraph1 for instance began1 8,there will be little difference among our readers or among all truly ,english and law-abiding men touching the1 etc4 etc40 ,the ,daily ,mail said1 8,people must learn1 in the modern world1 to keep their theological differences to themselves4 ,the fracas1 etc4 etc40 ,the ,daily ,news started1 8,nothing could be more inimical to the cause of true religion than1 etc4 etc40 ,the ,times began with something about ,celtic disturbances of the equilibrium of ,empire1 and the ,daily ,express distinguished itself splendidly by omitting altogether so controversial a matter and substituting a leader about goloshes4 ,and the morning after that1 the editors and the newspapers were in such a state1 that1 as the phrase is1 there was no holding them4 ,whatever secret and elvish thing it is that broods over editors and suddenly turns their brains1 that thing had seized on the story of the broken glass and the duel in the garden4 ,it became monstrous and omnipresent1 as do in our time the unimportant doings of the sect of the ,agapemonites1 or as did at an earlier time the dreary dishonesties of the ,rhodesian financiers4 ,questions were asked about it1 and even answered1 in the ,house of ,commons4 ,the ,government was solemnly denounced in the papers for not having done something1 nobody knew what1 to prevent the window being broken4 ,an enormous subscription was started to reimburse ,mr4 ,gordon1 the man who had been gagged in the shop4 ,mr4 ,mac,ian1 one of the combatants1 became for some mysterious reason1 singly and hugely popular as a comic figure in the comic papers and on the stage of the music hall4 ,he was always represented 7in defiance of fact71 with red whiskers1 and a very red nose1 and in full ,highland costume4 ,and a song1 consisting of an unimaginable number of verses1 in which his name was rhymed with flat iron1 the ,british ,lion1 sly 'un1 dandelion1 ,spion 7,with ,kop in the next line71 was sung to crowded houses every night4 ,the papers developed a devouring thirst for the capture of the fugitives2 and when they had not been caught for forty-eight hours1 they suddenly turned the whole matter into a detective mystery4 ,letters under the heading1 8,where are ,they10 poured in to every paper1 with every conceivable kind of explanation1 running them to earth in the ,monument1 the ,twopenny ,tube1 ,epping ,forest1 ,westminster ,abbey1 rolled up in carpets at ,shoolbreds1 locked up in safes in ,chancery ,lane4 ,yes1 the papers were very interesting1 and ,mr4 ,turnbull unrolled a whole bundle of them for the amusement of ,mr4 ,mac,ian as they sat on a high common to the north of ,london1 in the coming of the white dawn4 ,the darkness in the east had been broken with a bar of grey2 the bar of grey was split with a sword of silver and morning lifted itself laboriously over ,london4 ,from the spot where ,turnbull and ,mac,ian were sitting on one of the barren steeps behind ,hampstead1 they could see the whole of ,london shaping itself vaguely and largely in the grey and growing light1 until the white sun stood over it and it lay at their feet1 the splendid monstrosity that it is4 ,its bewildering squares and parallelograms were compact and perfect as a ,chinese puzzle2 an enormous hieroglyphic which man must decipher or die4 ,there fell upon both of them1 but upon ,turnbull more than the other1 because he know more what the scene signified1 that quite indescribable sense as of a sublime and passionate and heart-moving futility1 which is never evoked by deserts or dead men or men neglected and barbarous1 which can only be invoked by the sight of the enormous genius of man applied to anything other than the best4 ,turnbull1 the old idealistic democrat1 had so often reviled the democracy and reviled them justly for their supineness1 their snobbishness1 their evil reverence for idle things4 ,he was right enough2 for our democracy has only one great fault2 it is not democratic4 ,and after denouncing so justly average modern men for so many years as sophists and as slaves1 he looked down from an empty slope in ,hampstead and saw what gods they are4 ,their achievement seemed all the more heroic and divine1 because it seemed doubtful whether it was worth doing at all4 ,there seemed to be something greater than mere accuracy in making such a mistake as ,london4 ,and what was to be the end of it all8 what was to be the ultimate transformation of this common and incredible ,london man1 this workman on a tram in ,battersea1 his clerk on an omnibus in ,cheapside8 ,turnbull1 as he stared drearily1 murmured to himself the words of the old atheistic and revolutionary ,swinburne who had intoxicated his youth3 8,and still we ask if ,god or man ,can loosen thee ,lazarus2 ,bid thee rise up republican1 ,and save thyself and all of us4 ,but no disciple's tongue can say ,if thou can'st take our sins away40 ,turnbull shivered slightly as if behind the earthly morning he felt the evening of the world1 the sunset of so many hopes4 ,those words were from 8,songs before ,sunrise04 ,but ,turnbull's songs at their best were songs after sunrise1 and sunrise had been no such great thing after all4 ,turnbull shivered again in the sharp morning air4 ,mac,ian was also gazing with his face towards the city1 but there was that about his blind and mystical stare that told one1 so to speak1 that his eyes were turned inwards4 ,when ,turnbull said something to him about ,london1 they seemed to move as at a summons and come out like two householders coming out into their doorways4 8,yes10 he said1 with a sort of stupidity4 8,it's a very big place40 ,there was a somewhat unmeaning silence1 and then ,mac,ian said again3 8,it's a very big place4 ,when ,i first came into it ,i was frightened of it4 ,frightened exactly as one would be frightened at the sight of a man forty feet high4 ,i am used to big things where ,i come from1 big mountains that seem to fill ,god's infinity1 and the big sea that goes to the end of the world4 ,but then these things are all shapeless and confused things1 not made in any familiar form4 ,but to see the plain1 square1 human things as large as that1 houses so large and streets so large1 and the town itself so large1 was like having screwed some devil's magnifying glass into one's eye4 ,it was like seeing a porridge bowl as big as a house1 or a mouse-trap made to catch elephants40 8,like the land of the ,brobdingnagians10 said ,turnbull1 smiling4 8,oh6 ,where is that80 said ,mac,ian4 ,turnbull said bitterly1 8,in a book10 and the silence fell suddenly between them again4 ,they were sitting in a sort of litter on the hillside2 all the things they had hurriedly collected1 in various places1 for their flight1 were strewn indiscriminately round them4 ,the two swords with which they had lately sought each other's lives were flung down on the grass at random1 like two idle walking-sticks4 ,some provisions they had bought last night1 at a low public house1 in case of undefined contingencies1 were tossed about like the materials of an ordinary picnic1 here a basket of chocolate1 and there a bottle of wine4 ,and to add to the disorder finally1 there were strewn on top of everything1 the most disorderly of modern things1 newspapers1 and more newspapers1 and yet again newspapers1 the ministers of the modern anarchy4 ,turnbull picked up one of them drearily1 and took out a pipe4 8,there's a lot about us10 he said4 8,do you mind if ,i light up80 8,why should ,i mind80 asked ,mac,ian4 ,turnbull eyed with a certain studious interest1 the man who did not understand any of the verbal courtesies2 he lit his pipe and blew great clouds out of it4 8,yes10 he resumed4 8,the matter on which you and ,i are engaged is at this moment really the best copy in ,england4 ,i am a journalist1 and ,i know4 ,for the first time1 perhaps1 for many generations1 the ,english are really more angry about a wrong thing done in ,england than they are about a wrong thing done in ,france40 8,it is not a wrong thing10 said ,mac,ian4 ,turnbull laughed4 8,you seem unable to understand the ordinary use of the human language4 ,if ,i did not suspect that you were a genius1 ,i should certainly know you were a blockhead4 ,i fancy we had better be getting along and collecting our baggage40 ,and he jumped up and began shoving the luggage into his pockets1 or strapping it on to his back4 ,as he thrust a tin of canned meat1 anyhow1 into his bursting side pocket1 he said casually3 8,i only meant that you and ,i are the most prominent people in the ,english papers40 8,well1 what did you expect80 asked ,mac,ian1 opening his great grave blue eyes4 8,the papers are full of us10 said ,turnbull1 stooping to pick up one of the swords4 ,mac,ian stooped and picked up the other4 8,yes10 he said1 in his simple way4 8,i have read what they have to say4 ,but they don't seem to understand the point40 8,the point of what80 asked ,turnbull4 8,the point of the sword10 said ,mac,ian1 violently1 and planted the steel point in the soil like a man planting a tree4 8,that is a point10 said ,turnbull1 grimly1 8that we will discuss later4 ,come along40 ,turnbull tied the last tin of biscuits desperately to himself with string2 and then spoke1 like a diver girt for plunging1 short and sharp4 8,now1 ,mr4 ,mac,ian1 you must listen to me4 ,you must listen to me1 not merely because ,i know the country1 which you might learn by looking at a map1 but because ,i know the people of the country1 whom you could not know by living here thirty years4 ,that infernal city down there is awake2 and it is awake against us4 ,all those endless rows of windows and windows are all eyes staring at us4 ,all those forests of chimneys are fingers pointing at us1 as we stand here on the hillside4 ,this thing has caught on4 ,for the next six mortal months they will think of nothing but us1 as for six mortal months they thought of nothing but the ,dreyfus case4 ,oh1 ,i know it's funny4 ,they let starving children1 who don't want to die1 drop by the score without looking round4 ,but because two gentlemen1 from private feelings of delicacy1 do want to die1 they will mobilize the army and navy to prevent them4 ,for half a year or more1 you and ,i1 ,mr4 ,mac,ian1 will be an obstacle to every reform in the ,british ,empire4 ,we shall prevent the ,chinese being sent out of the ,transvaal and the blocks being stopped in the ,strand4 ,we shall be the conversational substitute when anyone recommends ,home ,rule1 or complains of sky signs4 ,therefore1 do not imagine1 in your innocence1 that we have only to melt away among those ,english hills as a ,highland cateran might into your god-forsaken ,highland mountains4 ,we must be eternally on our guard2 we must live the hunted life of two distinguished criminals4 ,we must expect to be recognized as much as if we were ,napoleon escaping from ,elba4 ,we must be prepared for our descriptions being sent to every tiny village1 and for our faces being recognized by every ambitious policeman4 ,we must often sleep under the stars as if we were in ,africa4 ,last and most important we must not dream of effecting our--our final settlement1 which will be a thing as famous as the ,phoenix ,park murders1 unless we have made real and precise arrangements for our isolation--,i will not say our safety4 ,we must not1 in short1 fight until we have thrown them off our scent1 if only for a moment4 ,for1 take my word for it1 ,mr4 ,mac,ian1 if the ,british ,public once catches us up1 the ,british ,public will prevent the duel1 if it is only by locking us both up in asylums for the rest of our days40 ,mac,ian was looking at the horizon with a rather misty look4 8,i am not at all surprised10 he said1 8at the world being against us4 ,it makes me feel ,i was right to----0 8,yes80 said ,turnbull4 8,to smash your window10 said ,mac,ian4 8,i have woken up the world40 8,very well1 then10 said ,turnbull1 stolidly4 8,let us look at a few final facts4 ,beyond that hill there is comparatively clear country4 ,fortunately1 ,i know the part well1 and if you will follow me exactly1 and1 when necessary1 on your stomach1 we may be able to get ten miles out of ,london1 literally without meeting anyone at all1 which will be the best possible beginning1 at any rate4 ,we have provisions for at least two days and two nights1 three days if we do it carefully4 ,we may be able to get fifty or sixty miles away without even walking into an inn door4 ,i have the biscuits and the tinned meat1 and the milk4 ,you have the chocolate1 ,i think8 ,and the brandy80 8,yes10 said ,mac,ian1 like a soldier taking orders4 8,very well1 then1 come on4 ,march4 ,we turn under that third bush and so down into the valley40 ,and he set off ahead at a swinging walk4 ,then he stopped suddenly2 for he realized that the other was not following4 ,evan ,mac,ian was leaning on his sword with a lowering face1 like a man suddenly smitten still with doubt4 8,what on earth is the matter80 asked ,turnbull1 staring in some anger4 ,evan made no reply4 8,what the deuce is the matter with you80 demanded the leader1 again1 his face slowly growing as red as his beard2 then he said1 suddenly1 and in a more human voice1 8,are you in pain1 ,mac,ian80 8,yes10 replied the ,highlander1 without lifting his face4 8,take some brandy10 cried ,turnbull1 walking forward hurriedly towards him4 8,you've got it40 8,it's not in the body10 said ,mac,ian1 in his dull1 strange way4 8,the pain has come into my mind4 ,a very dreadful thing has just come into my thoughts40 8,what the devil are you talking about80 asked ,turnbull4 ,mac,ian broke out with a queer and living voice4 8,we must fight now1 ,turnbull4 ,we must fight now4 ,a frightful thing has come upon me1 and ,i know it must be now and here4 ,i must kill you here10 he cried1 with a sort of tearful rage impossible to describe4 8,here1 here1 upon this blessed grass40 8,why1 you idiot10 began ,turnbull4 8,the hour has come--the black hour ,god meant for it4 ,quick1 it will soon be gone4 ,quick60 ,and he flung the scabbard from him furiously1 and stood with the sunlight sparkling along his sword4 8,you confounded fool10 repeated ,turnbull4 8,put that thing up again1 you ass2 people will come out of that house at the first clash of the steel40 8,one of us will be dead before they come10 said the other1 hoarsely1 8for this is the hour ,god meant40 8,well1 ,i never thought much of ,god10 said the editor of ,the ,atheist1 losing all patience4 8,and ,i think less now4 ,never mind what ,god meant4 ,kindly enlighten my pagan darkness as to what the devil you mean40 8,the hour will soon be gone4 ,in a moment it will be gone10 said the madman4 8,it is now1 now1 now that ,i must nail your blaspheming body to the earth--now1 now that ,i must avenge ,our ,lady on her vile slanderer4 ,now or never4 ,for the dreadful thought is in my mind40 8,and what thought10 asked ,turnbull1 with frantic composure1 8occupies what you call your mind80 8,i must kill you now10 said the fanatic1 8because----0 8,well1 because10 said ,turnbull1 patiently4 8,because ,i have begun to like you40 ,turnbull's face had a sudden spasm in the sunlight1 a change so instantaneous that it left no trace behind it2 and his features seemed still carved into a cold stare4 ,but when he spoke again he seemed like a man who was placidly pretending to misunderstand something that he understood perfectly well4 8,your affection expresses itself in an abrupt form10 he began1 but ,mac,ian broke the brittle and frivolous speech to pieces with a violent voice4 8,do not trouble to talk like that10 he said4 8,you know what ,i mean as well as ,i know it4 ,come on and fight1 ,i say4 ,perhaps you are feeling just as ,i do40 ,turnbull's face flinched again in the fierce sunlight1 but his attitude kept its contemptuous ease4 8,your ,celtic mind really goes too fast for me10 he said2 8let me be permitted in my heavy ,lowland way to understand this new development4 ,my dear ,mr4 ,mac,ian1 what do you really mean80 ,mac,ian still kept the shining sword-point towards the other's breast4 8,you know what ,i mean4 ,you mean the same yourself4 ,we must fight now or else----0 8,or else80 repeated ,turnbull1 staring at him with an almost blinding gravity4 8,or else we may not want to fight at all10 answered ,evan1 and the end of his speech was like a despairing cry4 ,turnbull took out his own sword suddenly as if to engage2 then planting it point downwards for a moment1 he said1 8,before we begin1 may ,i ask you a question80 ,mac,ian bowed patiently1 but with burning eyes4 8,you said1 just now10 continued ,turnbull1 presently1 8that if we did not fight now1 we might not want to fight at all4 ,how would you feel about the matter if we came not to want to fight at all80 8,i should feel10 answered the other1 8just as ,i should feel if you had drawn your sword1 and ,i had run away from it4 ,i should feel that because ,i had been weak1 justice had not been done40 8,justice10 answered ,turnbull1 with a thoughtful smile1 8but we are talking about your feelings4 ,and what do you mean by justice1 apart from your feelings80 ,mac,ian made a gesture of weary recognition6 8,oh1 ,nominalism10 he said1 with a sort of sigh1 8we had all that out in the twelfth century40 8,i wish we could have it out now10 replied the other1 firmly4 8,do you really mean that if you came to think me right1 you would be certainly wrong80 8,if ,i had a blow on the back of my head1 ,i might come to think you a green elephant10 answered ,mac,ian1 8but have ,i not the right to say now1 that if ,i thought that ,i should think wrong80 8,then you are quite certain that it would be wrong to like me80 asked ,turnbull1 with a slight smile4 8,no10 said ,evan1 thoughtfully1 8,i do not say that4 ,it may not be the devil1 it may be some part of ,god ,i am not meant to know4 ,but ,i had a work to do1 and it is making the work difficult40 8,and ,i suppose10 said the atheist1 quite gently1 8that you and ,i know all about which part of ,god we ought to know40 ,mac,ian burst out like a man driven back and explaining everything4 8,the ,church is not a thing like the ,athenaeum ,club10 he cried4 8,if the ,athenaeum ,club lost all its members1 the ,athenaeum ,club would dissolve and cease to exist4 ,but when we belong to the ,church we belong to something which is outside all of us2 which is outside everything you talk about1 outside the ,cardinals and the ,pope4 ,they belong to it1 but it does not belong to them4 ,if we all fell dead suddenly1 the ,church would still somehow exist in ,god4 ,confound it all1 don't you see that ,i am more sure of its existence than ,i am of my own existence8 ,and yet you ask me to trust my temperament1 my own temperament1 which can be turned upside down by two bottles of claret or an attack of the jaundice4 ,you ask me to trust that when it softens towards you and not to trust the thing which ,i believe to be outside myself and more real than the blood in my body40 8,stop a moment10 said ,turnbull1 in the same easy tone1 8,even in the very act of saying that you believe this or that1 you imply that there is a part of yourself that you trust even if there are many parts which you mistrust4 ,if it is only you that like me1 surely1 also1 it is only you that believe in the ,catholic ,church40 ,evan remained in an unmoved and grave attitude4 8,there is a part of me which is divine10 he answered1 8a part that can be trusted1 but there are also affections which are entirely animal and idle40 8,and you are quite certain1 ,i suppose10 continued ,turnbull1 8that if even you esteem me the esteem would be wholly animal and idle80 ,for the first time ,mac,ian started as if he had not expected the thing that was said to him4 ,at last he said3 8,whatever in earth or heaven it is that has joined us two together1 it seems to be something which makes it impossible to lie4 ,no1 ,i do not think that the movement in me towards you was444was that surface sort of thing4 ,it may have been something deeper444something strange4 ,i cannot understand the thing at all4 ,but understand this and understand it thoroughly1 if ,i loved you my love might be divine4 ,no1 it is not some trifle that we are fighting about4 ,it is not some superstition or some symbol4 ,when you wrote those words about ,our ,lady1 you were in that act a wicked man doing a wicked thing4 ,if ,i hate you it is because you have hated goodness4 ,and if ,i like you444it is because you are good40 ,turnbull's face wore an indecipherable expression4 8,well1 shall we fight now80 he said4 8,yes10 said ,mac,ian1 with a sudden contraction of his black brows1 8yes1 it must be now40 ,the bright swords crossed1 and the first touch of them1 travelling down blade and arm1 told each combatant that the heart of the other was awakened4 ,it was not in that way that the swords rang together when they had rushed on each other in the little garden behind the dealer's shop4 ,there was a pause1 and then ,mac,ian made a movement as if to thrust1 and almost at the same moment ,turnbull suddenly and calmly dropped his sword4 ,evan stared round in an unusual bewilderment1 and then realized that a large man in pale clothes and a ,panama hat was strolling serenely towards them4 ,v4 ,,the ,,peacemaker ,when the combatants1 with crossed swords1 became suddenly conscious of a third party1 they each made the same movement4 ,it was as quick as the snap of a pistol1 and they altered it instantaneously and recovered their original pose1 but they had both made it1 they had both seen it1 and they both knew what it was4 ,it was not a movement of anger at being interrupted4 ,say or think what they would1 it was a movement of relief4 ,a force within them1 and yet quite beyond them1 seemed slowly and pitilessly washing away the adamant of their oath4 ,as mistaken lovers might watch the inevitable sunset of first love1 these men watched the sunset of their first hatred4 ,their hearts were growing weaker and weaker against each other4 ,when their weapons rang and riposted in the little ,london garden1 they could have been very certain that if a third party had interrupted them something at least would have happened4 ,they would have killed each other or they would have killed him4 ,but now nothing could undo or deny that flash of fact1 that for a second they had been glad to be interrupted4 ,some new and strange thing was rising higher and higher in their hearts like a high sea at night4 ,it was something that seemed all the more merciless1 because it might turn out an enormous mercy4 ,was there1 perhaps1 some such fatalism in friendship as all lovers talk about in love8 ,did ,god make men love each other against their will8 8,i'm sure you'll excuse my speaking to you10 said the stranger1 in a voice at once eager and deprecating4 ,the voice was too polite for good manners4 ,it was incongruous with the eccentric spectacle of the duellists which ought to have startled a sane and free man4 ,it was also incongruous with the full and healthy1 though rather loose physique of the man who spoke4 ,at the first glance he looked a fine animal1 with curling gold beard and hair1 and blue eyes1 unusually bright4 ,it was only at the second glance that the mind felt a sudden and perhaps unmeaning irritation at the way in which the gold beard retreated backwards into the waistcoat1 and the way in which the finely shaped nose went forward as if smelling its way4 ,and it was only1 perhaps1 at the hundredth glance that the bright blue eyes1 which normally before and after the instant seemed brilliant with intelligence1 seemed as it were to be brilliant with idiocy4 ,he was a heavy1 healthy-looking man1 who looked all the larger because of the loose1 light coloured clothes that he wore1 and that had in their extreme lightness and looseness1 almost a touch of the tropics4 ,but a closer examination of his attire would have shown that even in the tropics it would have been unique2 but it was all woven according to some hygienic texture which no human being had ever heard of before1 and which was absolutely necessary even for a day's health4 ,he wore a huge broad-brimmed hat1 equally hygienic1 very much at the back of his head1 and his voice coming out of so heavy and hearty a type of man was1 as ,i have said1 startlingly shrill and deferential4 8,i'm sure you'll excuse my speaking to you10 he said4 8,now1 ,i wonder if you are in some little difficulty which1 after all1 we could settle very comfortably together8 ,now1 you don't mind my saying this1 do you80 ,the face of both combatants remained somewhat solid under this appeal4 ,but the stranger1 probably taking their silence for a gathering shame1 continued with a kind of gaiety3 8,so you are the young men ,i have read about in the papers4 ,well1 of course1 when one is young1 one is rather romantic4 ,do you know what ,i always say to young people80 ,a blank silence followed this gay inquiry4 ,then ,turnbull said in a colourless voice3 8,as ,i was forty-seven last birthday1 ,i probably came into the world too soon for the experience40 8,very good1 very good10 said the friendly person4 8,dry ,scotch humour4 ,dry ,scotch humour4 ,well now4 ,i understand that you two people want to fight a duel4 ,i suppose you aren't much up in the modern world4 ,we've quite outgrown duelling1 you know4 ,in fact1 ,tolstoy tells us that we shall soon outgrow war1 which he says is simply a duel between nations4 ,a duel between nations4 ,but there is no doubt about our having outgrown duelling40 ,waiting for some effect upon his wooden auditors1 the stranger stood beaming for a moment and then resumed3 8,now1 they tell me in the newspapers that you are really wanting to fight about something connected with ,roman ,catholicism4 ,now1 do you know what ,i always say to ,roman ,catholics80 8,no10 said ,turnbull1 heavily4 8,do they80 ,it seemed to be a characteristic of the hearty1 hygienic gentleman that he always forgot the speech he had made the moment before4 ,without enlarging further on the fixed form of his appeal to the ,church of ,rome1 he laughed cordially at ,turnbull's answer2 then his wandering blue eyes caught the sunlight on the swords1 and he assumed a good-humoured gravity4 8,but you know this is a serious matter10 he said1 eyeing ,turnbull and ,mac,ian1 as if they had just been keeping the table in a roar with their frivolities4 8,i am sure that if ,i appealed to your higher natures444your higher natures4 ,every man has a higher nature and a lower nature4 ,now1 let us put the matter very plainly1 and without any romantic nonsense about honour or anything of that sort4 ,is not bloodshed a great sin80 8,no10 said ,mac,ian1 speaking for the first time4 8,well1 really1 really60 said the peacemaker4 8,murder is a sin10 said the immovable ,highlander4 8,there is no sin of bloodshed40 8,well1 we won't quarrel about a word10 said the other1 pleasantly4 8,why on earth not80 said ,mac,ian1 with a sudden asperity4 8,why shouldn't we quarrel about a word8 ,what is the good of words if they aren't important enough to quarrel over8 ,why do we choose one word more than another if there isn't any difference between them8 ,if you called a woman a chimpanzee instead of an angel1 wouldn't there be a quarrel about a word8 ,if you're not going to argue about words1 what are you going to argue about8 ,are you going to convey your meaning to me by moving your ears8 ,the ,church and the heresies always used to fight about words1 because they are the only things worth fighting about4 ,i say that murder is a sin1 and bloodshed is not1 and that there is as much difference between those words as there is between the word 'yes' and the word 'no'2 or rather more difference1 for 'yes' and 'no'1 at least1 belong to the same category4 ,murder is a spiritual incident4 ,bloodshed is a physical incident4 ,a surgeon commits bloodshed4 8,ah1 you're a casuist60 said the large man1 wagging his head4 8,now1 do you know what ,i always say to casuists44480 ,mac,ian made a violent gesture2 and ,turnbull broke into open laughter4 ,the peacemaker did not seem to be in the least annoyed1 but continued in unabated enjoyment4 8,well1 well10 he said1 8let us get back to the point4 ,now ,tolstoy has shown that force is no remedy2 so you see the position in which ,i am placed4 ,i am doing my best to stop what ,i'm sure you won't mind my calling this really useless violence1 this really quite wrong violence of yours4 ,but it's against my principles to call in the police against you1 because the police are still on a lower moral plane1 so to speak1 because1 in short1 the police undoubtedly sometimes employ force4 ,tolstoy has shown that violence merely breeds violence in the person towards whom it is used1 whereas ,love1 on the other hand1 breeds ,love4 ,so you see how ,i am placed4 ,i am reduced to use ,love in order to stop you4 ,i am obliged to use ,love40 ,he gave to the word an indescribable sound of something hard and heavy1 as if he were saying 8boots04 ,turnbull suddenly gripped his sword and said1 shortly1 8,i see how you are placed quite well1 sir4 ,you will not call the police4 ,mr4 ,mac,ian1 shall we engage80 ,mac,ian plucked his sword out of the grass4 8,i must and will stop this shocking crime10 cried the ,tolstoian1 crimson in the face4 8,it is against all modern ideas4 ,it is against the principle of love4 ,how you1 sir1 who pretend to be a ,christian4440 ,mac,ian turned upon him with a white face and bitter lip4 8,sir10 he said1 8talk about the principle of love as much as you like4 ,you seem to me colder than a lump of stone2 but ,i am willing to believe that you may at some time have loved a cat1 or a dog1 or a child4 ,when you were a baby1 ,i suppose you loved your mother4 ,talk about love1 then1 till the world is sick of the word4 ,but don't you talk about ,christianity4 ,don't you dare to say one word1 white or black1 about it4 ,christianity is1 as far as you are concerned1 a horrible mystery4 ,keep clear of it1 keep silent upon it1 as you would upon an abomination4 ,it is a thing that has made men slay and torture each other2 and you will never know why4 ,it is a thing that has made men do evil that good might come2 and you will never understand the evil1 let alone the good4 ,christianity is a thing that could only make you vomit1 till you are other than you are4 ,i would not justify it to you even if ,i could4 ,hate it1 in ,god's name1 as ,turnbull does1 who is a man4 ,it is a monstrous thing1 for which men die4 ,and if you will stand here and talk about love for another ten minutes it is very probable that you will see a man die for it40 ,and he fell on guard4 ,turnbull was busy settling something loose in his elaborate hilt1 and the pause was broken by the stranger4 8,suppose ,i call the police80 he said1 with a heated face4 8,and deny your most sacred dogma10 said ,mac,ian4 8,dogma60 cried the man1 in a sort of dismay4 8,oh1 we have no dogmas1 you know60 ,there was another silence1 and he said again1 airily3 8,you know1 ,i think1 there's something in what ,shaw teaches about no moral principles being quite fixed4 ,have you ever read ,the ,quintessence of ,ibsenism8 ,of course he went very wrong over the war40 ,turnbull1 with a bent1 flushed face1 was tying up the loose piece of the pommel with string4 ,with the string in his teeth1 he said1 8,oh1 make up your damned mind and clear out60 8,it's a serious thing10 said the philosopher1 shaking his head4 8,i must be alone and consider which is the higher point of view4 ,i rather feel that in a case so extreme as this4440 and he went slowly away4 ,as he disappeared among the trees1 they heard him murmuring in a sing-song voice1 8,new occasions teach new duties10 out of a poem by ,james ,russell ,lowell4 8,ah10 said ,mac,ian1 drawing a deep breath4 8,don't you believe in prayer now8 ,i prayed for an angel40 8,an hour ago10 said the ,highlander1 in his heavy meditative voice1 8,i felt the devil weakening my heart and my oath against you1 and ,i prayed that ,god would send an angel to my aid40 8,well80 inquired the other1 finishing his mending and wrapping the rest of the string round his hand to get a firmer grip4 8,well80 8,well1 that man was an angel10 said ,mac,ian4 8,i didn't know they were as bad as that10 answered ,turnbull4 8,we know that devils sometimes quote ,scripture and counterfeit good10 replied the mystic4 8,why should not angels sometimes come to show us the black abyss of evil on whose brink we stand4 ,if that man had not tried to stop us444,i might444,i might have stopped40 8,i know what you mean10 said ,turnbull1 grimly4 8,but then he came10 broke out ,mac,ian1 8and my soul said to me3 ',give up fighting1 and you will become like ,that4 ,give up vows and dogmas1 and fixed things1 and you may grow like ,that4 ,you may learn1 also1 that fog of false philosophy4 ,you may grow fond of that mire of crawling1 cowardly morals1 and you may come to think a blow bad1 because it hurts1 and not because it humiliates4 ,you may come to think murder wrong1 because it is violent1 and not because it is unjust4 ,oh1 you blasphemer of the good1 an hour ago ,i almost loved you6 ,but do not fear for me now4 ,i have heard the word ,love pronounced in his intonation2 and ,i know exactly what it means4 ,on guard6'0 ,the swords caught on each other with a dreadful clang and jar1 full of the old energy and hate2 and at once plunged and replunged4 ,once more each man's heart had become the magnet of a mad sword4 ,suddenly1 furious as they were1 they were frozen for a moment motionless4 8,what noise is that80 asked the ,highlander1 hoarsely4 8,i think ,i know10 replied ,turnbull4 8,what8444 ,what80 cried the other4 8,the student of ,shaw and ,tolstoy has made up his remarkable mind10 said ,turnbull1 quietly4 8,the police are coming up the hill40 ,,vi4 ,,the ,,other ,,philosopher ,between high hedges in ,hertfordshire1 hedges so high as to create a kind of grove1 two men were running4 ,they did not run in a scampering or feverish manner1 but in the steady swing of the pendulum4 ,across the great plains and uplands to the right and left of the lane1 a long tide of sunset light rolled like a sea of ruby1 lighting up the long terraces of the hills and picking out the few windows of the scattered hamlets in startling blood-red sparks4 ,but the lane was cut deep in the hill and remained in an abrupt shadow4 ,the two men running in it had an impression not uncommonly experienced between those wild green ,english walls2 a sense of being led between the walls of a maze4 ,though their pace was steady it was vigorous2 their faces were heated and their eyes fixed and bright4 ,there was1 indeed1 something a little mad in the contrast between the evening's stillness over the empty country-side1 and these two figures fleeing wildly from nothing4 ,they had the look of two lunatics1 possibly they were4 8,are you all right80 said ,turnbull1 with civility4 8,can you keep this up80 8,quite easily1 thank you10 replied ,mac,ian4 8,i run very well40 8,is that a qualification in a family of warriors80 asked ,turnbull4 8,undoubtedly4 ,rapid movement is essential10 answered ,mac,ian1 who never saw a joke in his life4 ,turnbull broke out into a short laugh1 and silence fell between them1 the panting silence of runners4 ,then ,mac,ian said3 8,we run better than any of those policemen4 ,they are too fat4 ,why do you make your policemen so fat80 8,i didn't do much towards making them fat myself10 replied ,turnbull1 genially1 8but ,i flatter myself that ,i am now doing something towards making them thin4 ,you'll see they will be as lean as rakes by the time they catch us4 ,they will look like your friend1 ,cardinal ,manning40 8,but they won't catch us10 said ,mac,ian1 in his literal way4 8,no1 we beat them in the great military art of running away10 returned the other4 8,they won't catch us unless----0 ,mac,ian turned his long equine face inquiringly4 8,unless what80 he said1 for ,turnbull had gone silent suddenly1 and seemed to be listening intently as he ran as a horse does with his ears turned back4 8,unless what80 repeated the ,highlander4 8,unless they do--what they have done4 ,listen40 ,mac,ian slackened his trot1 and turned his head to the trail they had left behind them4 ,across two or three billows of the up and down lane came along the ground the unmistakable throbbing of horses' hoofs4 8,they have put the mounted police on us10 said ,turnbull1 shortly4 8,good ,lord1 one would think we were a ,revolution40 8,so we are10 said ,mac,ian calmly4 8,what shall we do8 ,shall we turn on them with our points80 8,it may come to that10 answered ,turnbull1 8though if it does1 ,i reckon that will be the last act4 ,we must put it off if we can40 ,and he stared and peered about him between the bushes4 8,if we could hide somewhere the beasts might go by us10 he said4 8,the police have their faults1 but thank ,god they're inefficient4 ,why1 here's the very thing4 ,be quick and quiet4 ,follow me40 ,he suddenly swung himself up the high bank on one side of the lane4 ,it was almost as high and smooth as a wall1 and on the top of it the black hedge stood out over them as an angle1 almost like a thatched roof of the lane4 ,and the burning evening sky looked down at them through the tangle with red eyes as of an army of goblins4 ,turnbull hoisted himself up and broke the hedge with his body4 ,as his head and shoulders rose above it they turned to flame in the full glow as if lit up by an immense firelight4 ,his red hair and beard looked almost scarlet1 and his pale face as bright as a boy's4 ,something violent1 something that was at once love and hatred1 surged in the strange heart of the ,gael below him4 ,he had an unutterable sense of epic importance1 as if he were somehow lifting all humanity into a prouder and more passionate region of the air4 ,as he swung himself up also into the evening light he felt as if he were rising on enormous wings4 ,legends of the morning of the world which he had heard in childhood or read in youth came back upon him in a cloudy splendour1 purple tales of wrath and friendship1 like ,roland and ,oliver1 or ,balin and ,balan1 reminding him of emotional entanglements4 ,men who had loved each other and then fought each other2 men who had fought each other and then loved each other1 together made a mixed but monstrous sense of momentousness4 ,the crimson seas of the sunset seemed to him like a bursting out of some sacred blood1 as if the heart of the world had broken4 ,turnbull was wholly unaffected by any written or spoken poetry2 his was a powerful and prosaic mind4 ,but even upon him there came for the moment something out of the earth and the passionate ends of the sky4 ,the only evidence was in his voice1 which was still practical but a shade more quiet4 8,do you see that summer-house-looking thing over there80 he asked shortly4 8,that will do for us very well40 ,keeping himself free from the tangle of the hedge he strolled across a triangle of obscure kitchen garden1 and approached a dismal shed or lodge a yard or two beyond it4 ,it was a weather-stained hut of grey wood1 which with all its desolation retained a tag or two of trivial ornament1 which suggested that the thing had once been a sort of summer-house1 and the place probably a sort of garden4 8,that is quite invisible from the road10 said ,turnbull1 as he entered it1 8and it will cover us up for the night40 ,mac,ian looked at him gravely for a few moments4 8,sir10 he said1 8,i ought to say something to you4 ,i ought to say----0 8,hush10 said ,turnbull1 suddenly lifting his hand2 8be still1 man40 ,in the sudden silence1 the drumming of the distant horses grew louder and louder with inconceivable rapidity1 and the cavalcade of police rushed by below them in the lane1 almost with the roar and rattle of an express train4 8,i ought to tell you10 continued ,mac,ian1 still staring stolidly at the other1 8that you are a great chief1 and it is good to go to war behind you40 ,turnbull said nothing1 but turned and looked out of the foolish lattice of the little windows1 then he said1 8,we must have food and sleep first40 ,when the last echo of their eluded pursuers had died in the distant uplands1 ,turnbull began to unpack the provisions with the easy air of a man at a picnic4 ,he had just laid out the last items1 put a bottle of wine on the floor1 and a tin of salmon on the window-ledge1 when the bottomless silence of that forgotten place was broken4 ,and it was broken by three heavy blows of a stick delivered upon the door4 ,turnbull looked up in the act of opening a tin and stared silently at his companion4 ,mac,ian's long1 lean mouth had shut hard4 8,who the devil can that be80 said ,turnbull4 8,god knows10 said the other4 8,it might be ,god40 ,again the sound of the wooden stick reverberated on the wooden door4 ,it was a curious sound and on consideration did not resemble the ordinary effects of knocking on a door for admittance4 ,it was rather as if the point of a stick were plunged again and again at the panels in an absurd attempt to make a hole in them4 ,a wild look sprang into ,mac,ian's eyes and he got up half stupidly1 with a kind of stagger1 put his hand out and caught one of the swords4 8,let us fight at once10 he cried1 8it is the end of the world40 8,you're overdone1 ,mac,ian10 said ,turnbull1 putting him on one side4 8,it's only someone playing the goat4 ,let me open the door40 ,but he also picked up a sword as he stepped to open it4 ,he paused one moment with his hand on the handle and then flung the door open4 ,almost as he did so the ferrule of an ordinary bamboo cane came at his eyes1 so that he had actually to parry it with the naked weapon in his hands4 ,as the two touched1 the point of the stick was dropped very abruptly1 and the man with the stick stepped hurriedly back4 ,against the heraldic background of sprawling crimson and gold offered him by the expiring sunset1 the figure of the man with the stick showed at first merely black and fantastic4 ,he was a small man with two wisps of long hair that curled up on each side1 and seen in silhouette1 looked like horns4 ,he had a bow tie so big that the two ends showed on each side of his neck like unnatural stunted wings4 ,he had his long black cane still tilted in his hand like a fencing foil and half presented at the open door4 ,his large straw hat had fallen behind him as he leapt backwards4 8,with reference to your suggestion1 ,mac,ian10 said ,turnbull1 placidly1 8,i think it looks more like the ,devil40 8,who on earth are you80 cried the stranger in a high shrill voice1 brandishing his cane defensively4 8,let me see10 said ,turnbull1 looking round to ,mac,ian with the same blandness4 8,who are we80 8,come out10 screamed the little man with the stick4 8,certainly10 said ,turnbull1 and went outside with the sword1 ,mac,ian following4 ,seen more fully1 with the evening light on his face1 the strange man looked a little less like a goblin4 ,he wore a square pale-grey jacket suit1 on which the grey butterfly tie was the only indisputable touch of affectation4 ,against the great sunset his figure had looked merely small3 seen in a more equal light it looked tolerably compact and shapely4 ,his reddish-brown hair1 combed into two great curls1 looked like the long1 slow curling hair of the women in some pre-,raphaelite pictures4 ,but within this feminine frame of hair his face was unexpectedly impudent1 like a monkey's4 8,what are you doing here80 he said1 in a sharp small voice4 8,well10 said ,mac,ian1 in his grave childish way1 8what are you doing here80 8,i10 said the man1 indignantly1 8,i'm in my own garden40 8,oh10 said ,mac,ian1 simply1 8,i apologize40 ,turnbull was coolly curling his red moustache1 and the stranger stared from one to the other1 temporarily stunned by their innocent assurance4 8,but1 may ,i ask10 he said at last1 8what the devil you are doing in my summer-house80 8,certainly10 said ,mac,ian4 8,we were just going to fight40 8,to fight60 repeated the man4 8,we had better tell this gentleman the whole business10 broke in ,turnbull4 ,then turning to the stranger he said firmly1 8,i am sorry1 sir1 but we have something to do that must be done4 ,and ,i may as well tell you at the beginning and to avoid waste of time or language1 that we cannot admit any interference40 8,we were just going to take some slight refreshment when you interrupted us4440 ,the little man had a dawning expression of understanding and stooped and picked up the unused bottle of wine1 eyeing it curiously4 ,turnbull continued3 8,but that refreshment was preparatory to something which ,i fear you will find less comprehensible1 but on which our minds are entirely fixed1 sir4 ,we are forced to fight a duel4 ,we are forced by honour and an internal intellectual need4 ,do not1 for your own sake1 attempt to stop us4 ,i know all the excellent and ethical things that you will want to say to us4 ,i know all about the essential requirements of civil order3 ,i have written leading articles about them all my life4 ,i know all about the sacredness of human life2 ,i have bored all my friends with it4 ,try and understand our position4 ,this man and ,i are alone in the modern world in that we think that ,god is essentially important4 ,i think ,he does not exist2 that is where the importance comes in for me4 ,but this man thinks that ,he does exist1 and thinking that very properly thinks ,him more important than anything else4 ,now we wish to make a great demonstration and assertion--something that will set the world on fire like the first ,christian persecutions4 ,if you like1 we are attempting a mutual martyrdom4 ,the papers have posted up every town against us4 ,scotland ,yard has fortified every police station with our enemies2 we are driven therefore to the edge of a lonely lane1 and indirectly to taking liberties with your summer-house in order to arrange our4440 8,stop60 roared the little man in the butterfly necktie4 8,put me out of my intellectual misery4 ,are you really the two tomfools ,i have read of in all the papers8 ,are you the two people who wanted to spit each other in the ,police ,court8 ,are you8 ,are you80 8,yes10 said ,mac,ian1 8it began in a ,police ,court40 ,the little man slung the bottle of wine twenty yards away like a stone4 8,come up to my place10 he said4 8,i've got better stuff than that4 ,i've got the best ,beaune within fifty miles of here4 ,come up4 ,you're the very men ,i wanted to see40 ,even ,turnbull1 with his typical invulnerability1 was a little taken aback by this boisterous and almost brutal hospitality4 8,why444sir4440 he began4 8,come up6 ,come in60 howled the little man1 dancing with delight4 8,i'll give you a dinner4 ,i'll give you a bed6 ,i'll give you a green smooth lawn and your choice of swords and pistols4 ,why1 you fools1 ,i adore fighting6 ,it's the only good thing in ,god's world6 ,i've walked about these damned fields and longed to see somebody cut up and killed and the blood running4 ,ha6 ,ha60 ,and he made sudden lunges with his stick at the trunk of a neighbouring tree so that the ferrule made fierce prints and punctures in the bark4 8,excuse me10 said ,mac,ian suddenly with the wide-eyed curiosity of a child1 8excuse me1 but4440 8,well80 said the small fighter1 brandishing his wooden weapon4 8,excuse me10 repeated ,mac,ian1 8but was that what you were doing at the door80 ,the little man stared an instant and then said3 8,yes10 and ,turnbull broke into a guffaw4 8,come on60 cried the little man1 tucking his stick under his arm and taking quite suddenly to his heels4 8,come on6 ,confound me1 ,i'll see both of you eat and then ,i'll see one of you die4 ,lord bless me1 the gods must exist after all--they have sent me one of my day-dreams6 ,lord6 ,a duel60 ,he had gone flying along a winding path between the borders of the kitchen garden1 and in the increasing twilight he was as hard to follow as a flying hare4 ,but at length the path after many twists betrayed its purpose and led abruptly up two or three steps to the door of a tiny but very clean cottage4 ,there was nothing about the outside to distinguish it from other cottages1 except indeed its ominous cleanliness and one thing that was out of all the custom and tradition of all cottages under the sun4 ,in the middle of the little garden among the stocks and marigolds there surged up in shapeless stone a ,south ,sea ,island idol4 ,there was something gross and even evil in that eyeless and alien god among the most innocent of the ,english flowers4 8,come in60 cried the creature again4 8,come in6 it's better inside60 ,whether or no it was better inside it was at least a surprise4 ,the moment the two duellists had pushed open the door of that inoffensive1 whitewashed cottage they found that its interior was lined with fiery gold4 ,it was like stepping into a chamber in the ,arabian ,nights4 ,the door that closed behind them shut out ,england and all the energies of the ,west4 ,the ornaments that shone and shimmered on every side of them were subtly mixed from many periods and lands1 but were all oriental4 ,cruel ,assyrian bas-reliefs ran along the sides of the passage2 cruel ,turkish swords and daggers glinted above and below them2 the two were separated by ages and fallen civilizations4 ,yet they seemed to sympathize since they were both harmonious and both merciless4 ,the house seemed to consist of chamber within chamber and created that impression as of a dream which belongs also to the ,arabian ,nights themselves4 ,the innermost room of all was like the inside of a jewel4 ,the little man who owned it all threw himself on a heap of scarlet and golden cushions and struck his hands together4 ,a negro in a white robe and turban appeared suddenly and silently behind them4 8,selim10 said the host1 8these two gentlemen are staying with me tonight4 ,send up the very best wine and dinner at once4 ,and ,selim1 one of these gentlemen will probably die tomorrow4 ,make arrangements1 please40 ,the negro bowed and withdrew4 ,evan ,mac,ian came out the next morning into the little garden to a fresh silver day1 his long face looking more austere than ever in that cold light1 his eyelids a little heavy4 ,he carried one of the swords4 ,turnbull was in the little house behind him1 demolishing the end of an early breakfast and humming a tune to himself1 which could be heard through the open window4 ,a moment or two later he leapt to his feet and came out into the sunlight1 still munching toast1 his own sword stuck under his arm like a walking-stick4 ,their eccentric host had vanished from sight1 with a polite gesture1 some twenty minutes before4 ,they imagined him to be occupied on some concerns in the interior of the house1 and they waited for his emergence1 stamping the garden in silence--the garden of tall1 fresh country flowers1 in the midst of which the monstrous ,south ,sea idol lifted itself as abruptly as the prow of a ship riding on a sea of red and white and gold4 ,it was with a start1 therefore1 that they came upon the man himself already in the garden4 ,they were all the more startled because of the still posture in which they found him4 ,he was on his knees in front of the stone idol1 rigid and motionless1 like a saint in a trance or ecstasy4 ,yet when ,turnbull's tread broke a twig1 he was on his feet in a flash4 8,excuse me10 he said with an irradiation of smiles1 but yet with a kind of bewilderment4 8,so sorry444family prayers444old fashioned444mother's knee4 ,let us go on to the lawn behind40 ,and he ducked rapidly round the statue to an open space of grass on the other side of it4 8,this will do us best1 ,mr4 ,mac,ian10 said he4 ,then he made a gesture towards the heavy stone figure on the pedestal which had now its blank and shapeless back turned towards them4 8,don't you be afraid10 he added1 8he can still see us40 ,mac,ian turned his blue1 blinking eyes1 which seemed still misty with sleep 7or sleeplessness7 towards the idol1 but his brows drew together4 ,the little man with the long hair also had his eyes on the back view of the god4 ,his eyes were at once liquid and burning1 and he rubbed his hands slowly against each other4 8,do you know10 he said1 8,i think he can see us better this way4 ,i often think that this blank thing is his real face1 watching1 though it cannot be watched4 ,he6 he6 ,yes1 ,i think he looks nice from behind4 ,he looks more cruel from behind1 don't you think80 8,what the devil is the thing80 asked ,turnbull gruffly4 8,it is the only ,thing there is10 answered the other4 8,it is ,force40 8,oh60 said ,turnbull shortly4 8,yes1 my friends10 said the little man1 with an animated countenance1 fluttering his fingers in the air1 8it was no chance that led you to this garden2 surely it was the caprice of some old god1 some happy1 pitiless god4 ,perhaps it was his will1 for he loves blood2 and on that stone in front of him men have been butchered by hundreds in the fierce1 feasting islands of the ,south4 ,in this cursed1 craven place ,i have not been permitted to kill men on his altar4 ,only rabbits and cats1 sometimes40 ,in the stillness ,mac,ian made a sudden movement1 unmeaning apparently1 and then remained rigid4 8,but today1 today10 continued the small man in a shrill voice4 8,today his hour is come4 ,today his will is done on earth as it is in heaven4 ,men1 men1 men will bleed before him today40 ,and he bit his forefinger in a kind of fever4 ,still1 the two duellists stood with their swords as heavily as statues1 and the silence seemed to cool the eccentric and call him back to more rational speech4 8,perhaps ,i express myself a little too lyrically10 he said with an amicable abruptness4 8,my philosophy has its higher ecstasies1 but perhaps you are hardly worked up to them yet4 ,let us confine ourselves to the unquestioned4 ,you have found your way1 gentlemen1 by a beautiful accident1 to the house of the only man in ,england 7probably7 who will favour and encourage your most reasonable project4 ,from ,cornwall to ,cape ,wrath this county is one horrible1 solid block of humanitarianism4 ,you will find men who will defend this or that war in a distant continent4 ,they will defend it on the contemptible ground of commerce or the more contemptible ground of social good4 ,but do not fancy that you will find one other person who will comprehend a strong man taking the sword in his hand and wiping out his enemy4 ,my name is ,wimpey1 ,morrice ,wimpey4 ,i had a ,fellowship at ,magdalen4 ,but ,i assure you ,i had to drop it1 owing to my having said something in a public lecture infringing the popular prejudice against those great gentlemen1 the assassins of the ,italian ,renaissance4 ,they let me say it at dinner and so on1 and seemed to like it4 ,but in a public lecture444so inconsistent4 ,well1 as ,i say1 here is your only refuge and temple of honour4 ,here you can fall back on that naked and awful arbitration which is the only thing that balances the stars--a still1 continuous violence4 ,vae ,victis6 ,down1 down1 down with the defeated6 ,victory is the only ultimate fact4 ,carthage was destroyed1 the ,red ,indians are being exterminated3 that is the single certainty4 ,in an hour from now that sun will still be shining and that grass growing1 and one of you will be conquered2 one of you will be the conqueror4 ,when it has been done1 nothing will alter it4 ,heroes1 ,i give you the hospitality fit for heroes4 ,and ,i salute the survivor4 ,fall on60 ,the two men took their swords4 ,then ,mac,ian said steadily3 8,mr4 ,turnbull1 lend me your sword a moment40 ,turnbull1 with a questioning glance1 handed him the weapon4 ,mac,ian took the second sword in his left hand and1 with a violent gesture1 hurled it at the feet of little ,mr4 ,wimpey4 8,fight60 he said in a loud1 harsh voice4 8,fight me now60 ,wimpey took a step backward1 and bewildered words bubbled on his lips4 8,pick up that sword and fight me10 repeated ,mac,ian1 with brows as black as thunder4 ,the little man turned to ,turnbull with a gesture1 demanding judgement or protection4 8,really1 sir10 he began1 8this gentleman confuses4440 8,you stinking little coward10 roared ,turnbull1 suddenly releasing his wrath4 8,fight1 if you're so fond of fighting6 ,fight1 if you're so fond of all that filthy philosophy6 ,if winning is everything1 go in and win6 ,if the weak must go to the wall1 go to the wall6 ,fight1 you rat6 ,fight1 or if you won't fight--run60 ,and he ran at ,wimpey1 with blazing eyes4 ,wimpey staggered back a few paces like a man struggling with his own limbs4 ,then he felt the furious ,scotchman coming at him like an express train1 doubling his size every second1 with eyes as big as windows and a sword as bright as the sun4 ,something broke inside him1 and he found himself running away1 tumbling over his own feet in terror1 and crying out as he ran4 8,chase him60 shouted ,turnbull as ,mac,ian snatched up the sword and joined in the scamper4 8,chase him over a county6 ,chase him into the sea6 ,shoo6 ,shoo6 ,shoo60 ,the little man plunged like a rabbit among the tall flowers1 the two duellists after him4 ,turnbull kept at his tail with savage ecstasy1 still shooing him like a cat4 ,but ,mac,ian1 as he ran past the ,south ,sea idol1 paused an instant to spring upon its pedestal4 ,for five seconds he strained against the inert mass4 ,then it stirred2 and he sent it over with a great crash among the flowers1 that engulfed it altogether4 ,then he went bounding after the runaway4 ,in the energy of his alarm the ex-,fellow of ,magdalen managed to leap the paling of his garden4 ,the two pursuers went over it after him like flying birds4 ,he fled frantically down a long lane with his two terrors on his trail till he came to a gap in the hedge and went across a steep meadow like the wind4 ,the two ,scotchmen1 as they ran1 kept up a cheery bellowing and waved their swords4 ,up three slanting meadows1 down four slanting meadows on the other side1 across another road1 across a heath of snapping bracken1 through a wood1 across another road1 and to the brink of a big pool1 they pursued the flying philosopher4 ,but when he came to the pool his pace was so precipitate that he could not stop it1 and with a kind of lurching stagger1 he fell splash into the greasy water4 ,getting dripping to his feet1 with the water up to his knees1 the worshipper of force and victory waded disconsolately to the other side and drew himself on to the bank4 ,and ,turnbull sat down on the grass and went off into reverberations of laughter4 ,a second afterwards the most extraordinary grimaces were seen to distort the stiff face of ,mac,ian1 and unholy sounds came from within4 ,he had never practised laughing1 and it hurt him very much4 ,,vii4 ,,the ,,village ,,of ,,grassley-,,in-,,the-,,hole ,at about half past one1 under a strong blue sky1 ,turnbull got up out of the grass and fern in which he had been lying1 and his still intermittent laughter ended in a kind of yawn4 8,i'm hungry10 he said shortly4 8,are you80 8,i have not noticed10 answered ,mac,ian4 8,what are you going to do80 8,there's a village down the road1 past the pool10 answered ,turnbull4 8,i can see it from here4 ,i can see the whitewashed walls of some cottages and a kind of corner of the church4 ,how jolly it all looks4 ,it looks so--,i don't know what the word is--so sensible4 ,don't fancy ,i'm under any illusions about ,arcadian virtue and the innocent villagers4 ,men make beasts of themselves there with drink1 but they don't deliberately make devils of themselves with mere talking4 ,they kill wild animals in the wild woods1 but they don't kill cats to the ,god of ,victory4 ,they don't----0 ,he broke off and suddenly spat on the ground4 8,excuse me10 he said2 8it was ceremonial4 ,one has to get the taste out of one's mouth40 8,the taste of what80 asked ,mac,ian4 8,i don't know the exact name for it10 replied ,turnbull4 8,perhaps it is the ,south ,sea ,islands1 or it may be ,magdalen ,college40 ,there was a long pause1 and ,mac,ian also lifted his large limbs off the ground--his eyes particularly dreamy4 8,i know what you mean1 ,turnbull10 he said1 8but444 ,i always thought you people agreed with all that40 8,with all that about doing as one likes1 and the individual1 and ,nature loving the strongest1 and all the things which that cockroach talked about40 ,turnbull's big blue-grey eyes stood open with a grave astonishment4 8,do you really mean to say1 ,mac,ian10 he said1 8that you fancied that we1 the ,free-thinkers1 that ,bradlaugh1 or ,holyoake1 or ,ingersoll1 believe all that dirty1 immoral mysticism about ,nature8 ,damn ,nature60 8,i supposed you did10 said ,mac,ian calmly4 8,it seems to me your most conclusive position40 8,and you mean to tell me10 rejoined the other1 8that you broke my window1 and challenged me to mortal combat1 and tied a tradesman up with ropes1 and chased an ,oxford ,fellow across five meadows--all under the impression that ,i am such an illiterate idiot as to believe in ,nature60 8,i supposed you did10 repeated ,mac,ian with his usual mildness2 8but ,i admit that ,i know little of the details of your belief--or disbelief40 ,turnbull swung round quite suddenly1 and set off towards the village4 8,come along10 he cried4 8,come down to the village4 ,come down to the nearest decent inhabitable pub4 ,this is a case for beer40 8,i do not quite follow you10 said the ,highlander4 8,yes1 you do10 answered ,turnbull4 8,you follow me slap into the inn-parlour4 ,i repeat1 this is a case for beer4 ,we must have the whole of this matter out thoroughly before we go a step farther4 ,do you know that an idea has just struck me of great simplicity and of some cogency4 ,do not by any means let us drop our intentions of settling our differences with two steel swords4 ,but do you not think that with two pewter pots we might do what we really have never thought of doing yet--discover what our difference is80 8,it never occurred to me before10 answered ,mac,ian with tranquillity4 8,it is a good suggestion40 ,and they set out at an easy swing down the steep road to the village of ,grassley-in-the-,hole4 ,grassley-in-the-,hole was a rude parallelogram of buildings1 with two thoroughfares which might have been called two high streets if it had been possible to call them streets4 ,one of these ways was higher on the slope than the other1 the whole parallelogram lying aslant1 so to speak1 on the side of the hill4 ,the upper of these two roads was decorated with a big public house1 a butcher's shop1 a small public house1 a sweetstuff shop1 a very small public house1 and an illegible signpost4 ,the lower of the two roads boasted a horse-pond1 a post office1 a gentleman's garden with very high hedges1 a microscopically small public house1 and two cottages4 ,where all the people lived who supported all the public houses was in this1 as in many other ,english villages1 a silent and smiling mystery4 ,the church lay a little above and beyond the village1 with a square grey tower dominating it decisively4 ,but even the church was scarcely so central and solemn an institution as the large public house1 the ,valencourt ,arms4 ,it was named after some splendid family that had long gone bankrupt1 and whose seat was occupied by a man who had invented a hygienic bootjack2 but the unfathomable sentimentalism of the ,english people insisted in regarding the ,inn1 the seat and the sitter in it1 as alike parts of a pure and marmoreal antiquity4 ,and in the ,valencourt ,arms festivity itself had some solemnity and decorum2 and beer was drunk with reverence1 as it ought to be4 ,into the principal parlour of this place entered two strangers1 who found themselves1 as is always the case in such hostels1 the object1 not of fluttered curiosity or pert inquiry1 but of steady1 ceaseless1 devouring ocular study4 ,they had long coats down to their heels1 and carried under each coat something that looked like a stick4 ,one was tall and dark1 the other short and red-haired4 ,they ordered a pot of ale each4 8,mac,ian10 said ,turnbull1 lifting his tankard1 8the fool who wanted us to be friends made us want to go on fighting4 ,it is only natural that the fool who wanted us to fight should make us friendly4 ,mac,ian1 your health60 ,dusk was already dropping1 the rustics in the tavern were already lurching and lumbering out of it by twos and threes1 crying clamorous good nights to a solitary old toper that remained1 before ,mac,ian and ,turnbull had reached the really important part of their discussion4 ,mac,ian wore an expression of sad bewilderment not uncommon with him4 8,i am to understand1 then10 he said1 8that you don't believe in nature40 8,you may say so in a very special and emphatic sense10 said ,turnbull4 8,i do not believe in nature1 just as ,i do not believe in ,odin4 ,she is a myth4 ,it is not merely that ,i do not believe that nature can guide us4 ,it is that ,i do not believe that nature exists40 8,exists80 said ,mac,ian in his monotonous way1 settling his pewter pot on the table4 8,yes1 in a real sense nature does not exist4 ,i mean that nobody can discover what the original nature of things would have been if things had not interfered with it4 ,the first blade of grass began to tear up the earth and eat it2 it was interfering with nature1 if there is any nature4 ,the first wild ox began to tear up the grass and eat it2 he was interfering with nature1 if there is any nature4 ,in the same way10 continued ,turnbull1 8the human when it asserts its dominance over nature is just as natural as the thing which it destroys40 8,and in the same way10 said ,mac,ian almost dreamily1 8the superhuman1 the supernatural is just as natural as the nature which it destroys40 ,turnbull took his head out of his pewter pot in some anger4 8,the supernatural1 of course10 he said1 8is quite another thing2 the case of the supernatural is simple4 ,the supernatural does not exist40 8,quite so10 said ,mac,ian in a rather dull voice2 8you said the same about the natural4 ,if the natural does not exist the supernatural obviously can't40 ,and he yawned a little over his ale4 ,turnbull turned for some reason a little red and remarked quickly1 8,that may be jolly clever1 for all ,i know4 ,but everyone does know that there is a division between the things that as a matter of fact do commonly happen and the things that don't4 ,things that break the evident laws of nature----0 8,which does not exist10 put in ,mac,ian sleepily4 ,turnbull struck the table with a sudden hand4 8,good ,lord in heaven60 he cried---- 8,who does not exist10 murmured ,mac,ian4 8,good ,lord in heaven60 thundered ,turnbull1 without regarding the interruption4 8,do you really mean to sit there and say that you1 like anybody else1 would not recognize the difference between a natural occurrence and a supernatural one--if there could be such a thing8 ,if ,i flew up to the ceiling----0 8,you would bump your head badly10 cried ,mac,ian1 suddenly starting up4 8,one can't talk of this kind of thing under a ceiling at all4 ,come outside6 ,come outside and ascend into heaven60 ,he burst the door open on a blue abyss of evening and they stepped out into it3 it was suddenly and strangely cool4 8,turnbull10 said ,mac,ian1 8you have said some things so true and some so false that ,i want to talk2 and ,i will try to talk so that you understand4 ,for at present you do not understand at all4 ,we don't seem to mean the same things by the same words40 ,he stood silent for a second or two and then resumed4 8,a minute or two ago ,i caught you out in a real contradiction4 ,at that moment logically ,i was right4 ,and at that moment ,i knew ,i was wrong4 ,yes1 there is a real difference between the natural and the supernatural3 if you flew up into that blue sky this instant1 ,i should think that you were moved by ,god--or the devil4 ,but if you want to know what ,i really think444,i must explain40 ,he stopped again1 abstractedly boring the point of his sword into the earth1 and went on3 8,i was born and bred and taught in a complete universe4 ,the supernatural was not natural1 but it was perfectly reasonable4 ,nay1 the supernatural to me is more reasonable than the natural2 for the supernatural is a direct message from ,god1 who is reason4 ,i was taught that some things are natural and some things divine4 ,i mean that some things are mechanical and some things divine4 ,but there is the great difficulty1 ,turnbull4 ,the great difficulty is that1 according to my teaching1 you are divine40 8,me6 ,divine80 said ,turnbull truculently4 8,what do you mean80 8,that is just the difficulty10 continued ,mac,ian thoughtfully4 8,i was told that there was a difference between the grass and a man's will2 and the difference was that a man's will was special and divine4 ,a man's free will1 ,i heard1 was supernatural40 8,rubbish60 said ,turnbull4 8,oh10 said ,mac,ian patiently1 8then if a man's free will isn't supernatural1 why do your materialists deny that it exists80 ,turnbull was silent for a moment4 ,then he began to speak1 but ,mac,ian continued with the same steady voice and sad eyes3 8,so what ,i feel is this3 ,here is the great divine creation ,i was taught to believe in4 ,i can understand your disbelieving in it1 but why disbelieve in a part of it8 ,it was all one thing to me4 ,god had authority because he was ,god4 ,man had authority because he was man4 ,you cannot prove that ,god is better than a man2 nor can you prove that a man is better than a horse4 ,why permit any ordinary thing8 ,why do you let a horse be saddled80 8,some modern thinkers disapprove of it10 said ,turnbull a little doubtfully4 8,i know10 said ,mac,ian grimly2 8that man who talked about love1 for instance40 ,turnbull made a humorous grimace2 then he said3 8,we seem to be talking in a kind of shorthand2 but ,i won't pretend not to understand you4 ,what you mean is this3 that you learnt about all your saints and angels at the same time as you learnt about common morality1 from the same people1 in the same way4 ,and you mean to say that if one may be disputed1 so may the other4 ,well1 let that pass for the moment4 ,but let me ask you a question in turn4 ,did not this system of yours1 which you swallowed whole1 contain all sorts of things that were merely local1 the respect for the chief of your clan1 or such things2 the village ghost1 the family feud1 or what not8 ,did you not take in those things1 too1 along with your theology80 ,mac,ian stared along the dim village road1 down which the last straggler from the inn was trailing his way4 8,what you say is not unreasonable10 he said4 8,but it is not quite true4 ,the distinction between the chief and us did exist2 but it was never anything like the distinction between the human and the divine1 or the human and the animal4 ,it was more like the distinction between one animal and another4 ,but----0 8,well80 said ,turnbull4 ,mac,ian was silent4 8,go on10 repeated ,turnbull2 8what's the matter with you8 ,what are you staring at80 8,i am staring10 said ,mac,ian at last1 8at that which shall judge us both40 8,oh1 yes10 said ,turnbull in a tired way1 8,i suppose you mean ,god40 8,no1 ,i don't10 said ,mac,ian1 shaking his head4 8,i mean him40 ,and he pointed to the half-tipsy yokel who was ploughing down the road4 8,what do you mean80 asked the atheist4 8,i mean him10 repeated ,mac,ian with emphasis4 8,he goes out in the early dawn2 he digs or he ploughs a field4 ,then he comes back and drinks ale1 and then he sings a song4 ,all your philosophies and political systems are young compared to him4 ,all your hoary cathedrals1 yes1 even the ,eternal ,church on earth is new compared to him4 ,the most mouldering gods in the ,british ,museum are new facts beside him4 ,it is he who in the end shall judge us all40 ,and ,mac,ian rose to his feet with a vague excitement4 8,what are you going to do80 8,i am going to ask him10 cried ,mac,ian1 8which of us is right40 ,turnbull broke into a kind of laugh4 8,ask that intoxicated turnip-eater----0 he began4 8,yes--which of us is right10 cried ,mac,ian violently4 8,oh1 you have long words and ,i have long words2 and ,i talk of every man being the image of ,god2 and you talk of every man being a citizen and enlightened enough to govern4 ,but if every man typifies ,god1 there is ,god4 ,if every man is an enlightened citizen1 there is your enlightened citizen4 ,the first man one meets is always man4 ,let us catch him up40 ,and in gigantic strides the long1 lean ,highlander whirled away into the grey twilight1 ,turnbull following with a good-humoured oath4 ,the track of the rustic was easy to follow1 even in the faltering dark2 for he was enlivening his wavering walk with song4 ,it was an interminable poem1 beginning with some unspecified ,king ,william1 who 7it appeared7 lived in ,london town and who after the second rise vanished rather abruptly from the train of thought4 ,the rest was almost entirely about beer and was thick with local topography of a quite unrecognizable kind4 ,the singer's step was neither very rapid1 nor1 indeed1 exceptionally secure2 so the song grew louder and louder and the two soon overtook him4 ,he was a man elderly or rather of any age1 with lean grey hair and a lean red face1 but with that remarkable rustic physiognomy in which it seems that all the features stand out independently from the face2 the rugged red nose going out like a limb2 the bleared blue eyes standing out like signals4 ,he gave them greeting with the elaborate urbanity of the slightly intoxicated4 ,mac,ian1 who was vibrating with one of his silent1 violent decisions1 opened the question without delay4 ,he explained the philosophic position in words as short and simple as possible4 ,but the singular old man with the lank red face seemed to think uncommonly little of the short words4 ,he fixed with a fierce affection upon one or two of the long ones4 8,atheists60 he repeated with luxurious scorn4 8,atheists6 ,i know their sort1 master4 ,atheists6 ,don't talk to me about 'un4 ,atheists60 ,the grounds of his disdain seemed a little dark and confused2 but they were evidently sufficient4 ,mac,ian resumed in some encouragement3 8,you think as ,i do1 ,i hope2 you think that a man should be connected with the ,church2 with the common ,christian----0 ,the old man extended a quivering stick in the direction of a distant hill4 8,there's the church10 he said thickly4 8,grassley old church that is4 ,pulled down it was1 in the old squire's time1 and----0 8,i mean10 explained ,mac,ian elaborately1 8that you think that there should be someone typifying religion1 a priest----0 8,priests60 said the old man with sudden passion4 8,priests6 ,i know 'un4 ,what they want in ,england8 ,that's what ,i say4 ,what they want in ,england80 8,they want you10 said ,mac,ian4 8,quite so10 said ,turnbull1 8and me2 but they won't get us4 ,mac,ian1 your attempt on the primitive innocence does not seem very successful4 ,let me try4 ,what you want1 my friend1 is your rights4 ,you don't want any priests or churches4 ,a vote1 a right to speak is what you----0 8,who says ,i a'n't got a right to speak80 said the old man1 facing round in an irrational frenzy4 8,i got a right to speak4 ,i'm a man1 ,i am4 ,i don't want no votin' nor priests4 ,i say a man's a man2 that's what ,i say4 ,if a man a'n't a man1 what is he8 ,that's what ,i say1 if a man a'n't a man1 what is he8 ,when ,i sees a man1 ,i sez 'e's a man40 8,quite so10 said ,turnbull1 8a citizen40 8,i say he's a man10 said the rustic furiously1 stopping and striking his stick on the ground4 8,not a city or owt else4 ,he's a man40 8,you're perfectly right10 said the sudden voice of ,mac,ian1 falling like a sword4 8,and you have kept close to something the whole world of today tries to forget40 8,good night40 ,and the old man went on wildly singing into the night4 8,a jolly old creature10 said ,turnbull2 8he didn't seem able to get much beyond that fact that a man is a man40 8,has anybody got beyond it80 asked ,mac,ian4 ,turnbull looked at him curiously4 8,are you turning an agnostic80 he asked4 8,oh1 you do not understand60 cried out ,mac,ian4 8,we ,catholics are all agnostics4 ,we ,catholics have only in that sense got as far as realizing that man is a man4 ,but your ,ibsens and your ,zolas and your ,shaws and your ,tolstoys have not even got so far40 ,,viii4 ,,an ,,interlude ,,of ,,argument ,morning broke in bitter silver along the grey and level plain2 and almost as it did so ,turnbull and ,mac,ian came out of a low1 scrubby wood on to the empty and desolate flats4 ,they had walked all night4 ,they had walked all night and talked all night also1 and if the subject had been capable of being exhausted they would have exhausted it4 ,their long and changing argument had taken them through districts and landscapes equally changing4 ,they had discussed ,haeckel upon hills so high and steep that in spite of the coldness of the night it seemed as if the stars might burn them4 ,they had explained and re-explained the ,massacre of ,st4 ,bartholomew in little white lanes walled in with standing corn as with walls of gold4 ,they had talked about ,mr4 ,kensit in dim and twinkling pine woods1 amid the bewildering monotony of the pines4 ,and it was with the end of a long speech from ,mac,ian1 passionately defending the practical achievements and the solid prosperity of the ,catholic tradition1 that they came out upon the open land4 ,mac,ian had learnt much and thought more since he came out of the cloudy hills of ,arisaig4 ,he had met many typical modern figures under circumstances which were sharply symbolic2 and1 moreover1 he had absorbed the main modern atmosphere from the mere presence and chance phrases of ,turnbull1 as such atmospheres can always be absorbed from the presence and the phrases of any man of great mental vitality4 ,he had at last begun thoroughly to understand what are the grounds upon which the mass of the modern world solidly disapprove of her creed2 and he threw himself into replying to them with a hot intellectual enjoyment4 8,i begin to understand one or two of your dogmas1 ,mr4 ,turnbull10 he had said emphatically as they ploughed heavily up a wooded hill4 8,and every one that ,i understand ,i deny4 ,take any one of them you like4 ,you hold that your heretics and sceptics have helped the world forward and handed on a lamp of progress4 ,i deny it4 ,nothing is plainer from real history than that each of your heretics invented a complete cosmos of his own which the next heretic smashed entirely to pieces4 ,who knows now exactly what ,nestorius taught8 ,who cares8 ,there are only two things that we know for certain about it4 ,the first is that ,nestorius1 as a heretic1 taught something quite opposite to the teaching of ,arius1 the heretic who came before him1 and something quite useless to ,james ,turnbull1 the heretic who comes after4 ,i defy you to go back to the ,free-thinkers of the past and find any habitation for yourself at all4 ,i defy you to read ,godwin or ,shelley or the deists of the eighteenth century of the nature-worshipping humanists of the ,renaissance1 without discovering that you differ from them twice as much as you differ from the ,pope4 ,you are a nineteenth-century sceptic1 and you are always telling me that ,i ignore the cruelty of nature4 ,if you had been an eighteenth-century sceptic you would have told me that ,i ignore the kindness and benevolence of nature4 ,you are an atheist1 and you praise the deists of the eighteenth century4 ,read them instead of praising them1 and you will find that their whole universe stands or falls with the deity4 ,you are a materialist1 and you think ,bruno a scientific hero4 ,see what he said and you will think him an insane mystic4 ,no1 the great ,free-thinker1 with his genuine ability and honesty1 does not in practice destroy ,christianity4 ,what he does destroy is the ,free-thinker who went before4 ,free-thought may be suggestive1 it may be inspiriting1 it may have as much as you please of the merits that come from vivacity and variety4 ,but there is one thing ,free-thought can never be by any possibility--,free-thought can never be progressive4 ,it can never be progressive because it will accept nothing from the past2 it begins every time again from the beginning2 and it goes every time in a different direction4 ,all the rational philosophers have gone along different roads1 so it is impossible to say which has gone farthest4 ,who can discuss whether ,emerson was a better optimist than ,schopenhauer was pessimist8 ,it is like asking if this corn is as yellow as that hill is steep4 ,no2 there are only two things that really progress2 and they both accept accumulations of authority4 ,they may be progressing uphill and down2 they may be growing steadily better or steadily worse2 but they have steadily increased in certain definable matters2 they have steadily advanced in a certain definable direction2 they are the only two things1 it seems1 that ever can progress4 ,the first is strictly physical science4 ,the second is the ,catholic ,church40 8,physical science and the ,catholic ,church60 said ,turnbull sarcastically2 8and no doubt the first owes a great deal to the second40 8,if you pressed that point ,i might reply that it was very probable10 answered ,mac,ian calmly4 8,i often fancy that your historical generalizations rest frequently on random instances2 ,i should not be surprised if your vague notions of the ,church as the persecutor of science was a generalization from ,galileo4 ,i should not be at all surprised if1 when you counted the scientific investigations and discoveries since the fall of ,rome1 you found that a great mass of them had been made by monks4 ,but the matter is irrelevant to my meaning4 ,i say that if you want an example of anything which has progressed in the moral world by the same method as science in the material world1 by continually adding to without unsettling what was there before1 then ,i say that there is only one example of it4 ,and that is ,us40 8,with this enormous difference10 said ,turnbull1 8that however elaborate be the calculations of physical science1 their net result can be tested4 ,granted that it took millions of books ,i never read and millions of men ,i never heard of to discover the electric light4 ,still ,i can see the electric light4 ,but ,i cannot see the supreme virtue which is the result of all your theologies and sacraments40 8,catholic virtue is often invisible because it is the normal10 answered ,mac,ian4 8,christianity is always out of fashion because it is always sane2 and all fashions are mild insanities4 ,when ,italy is mad on art the ,church seems too ,puritanical2 when ,england is mad on ,puritanism the ,church seems too artistic4 ,when you quarrel with us now you class us with kingship and despotism2 but when you quarrelled with us first it was because we would not accept the divine despotism of ,henry ,,viii4 ,the ,church always seems to be behind the times1 when it is really beyond the times2 it is waiting till the last fad shall have seen its last summer4 ,it keeps the key of a permanent virtue40 8,oh1 ,i have heard all that60 said ,turnbull with genial contempt4 8,i have heard that ,christianity keeps the key of virtue1 and that if you read ,tom ,paine you will cut your throat at ,monte ,carlo4 ,it is such rubbish that ,i am not even angry at it4 ,you say that ,christianity is the prop of morals2 but what more do you do8 ,when a doctor attends you and could poison you with a pinch of salt1 do you ask whether he is a ,christian8 ,you ask whether he is a gentleman1 whether he is an ,m4,d4--anything but that4 ,when a soldier enlists to die for his country or disgrace it1 do you ask whether he is a ,christian8 ,you are more likely to ask whether he is ,oxford or ,cambridge at the boat race4 ,if you think your creed essential to morals why do you not make it a test for these things80 8,we once did make it a test for these things10 said ,mac,ian smiling1 8and then you told us that we were imposing by force a faith unsupported by argument4 ,it seems rather hard that having first been told that our creed must be false because we did use tests1 we should now be told that it must be false because we don't4 ,but ,i notice that most anti-,christian arguments are in the same inconsistent style40 8,that is all very well as a debating-club answer10 replied ,turnbull good-humouredly1 8but the question still remains3 ,why don't you confine yourself more to ,christians if ,christians are the only really good men80 8,who talked of such folly80 asked ,mac,ian disdainfully4 8,do you suppose that the ,catholic ,church ever held that ,christians were the only good men8 ,why1 the ,catholics of the ,catholic ,middle ,ages talked about the virtues of all the virtuous ,pagans until humanity was sick of the subject4 ,no1 if you really want to know what we mean when we say that ,christianity has a special power of virtue1 ,i will tell you4 ,the ,church is the only thing on earth that can perpetuate a type of virtue and make it something more than a fashion4 ,the thing is so plain and historical that ,i hardly think you will ever deny it4 ,you cannot deny that it is perfectly possible that tomorrow morning1 in ,ireland or in ,italy1 there might appear a man not only as good but good in exactly the same way as ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi4 ,very well1 now take the other types of human virtue2 many of them splendid4 ,the ,english gentleman of ,elizabeth was chivalrous and idealistic4 ,but can you stand still here in this meadow and be an ,english gentleman of ,elizabeth8 ,the austere republican of the eighteenth century1 with his stern patriotism and his simple life1 was a fine fellow4 ,but have you ever seen him8 have you ever seen an austere republican8 ,only a hundred years have passed and that volcano of revolutionary truth and valour is as cold as the mountains of the moon4 ,and so it is and so it will be with the ethics which are buzzing down ,fleet ,street at this instant as ,i speak4 ,what phrase would inspire the ,london clerk or workman just now8 ,perhaps that he is a son of the ,british ,empire on which the sun never sets2 perhaps that he is a prop of his ,trades ,union1 or a class-conscious proletarian something or other2 perhaps merely that he is a gentleman when he obviously is not4 ,those names and notions are all honourable2 but how long will they last8 ,empires break2 industrial conditions change2 the suburbs will not last for ever4 ,what will remain8 ,i will tell you4 ,the ,catholic ,saint will remain40 8,and suppose ,i don't like him80 said ,turnbull4 8,on my theory the question is rather whether he will like you3 or more probably whether he will ever have heard of you4 ,but ,i grant the reasonableness of your query4 ,you have a right1 if you speak as the ordinary man1 to ask if you will like the saint4 ,but as the ordinary man you do like him4 ,you revel in him4 ,if you dislike him it is not because you are a nice ordinary man1 but because you are 7if you will excuse me7 a sophisticated prig of a ,fleet ,street editor4 ,that is just the funny part of it4 ,the human race has always admired the ,catholic virtues1 however little it can practise them2 and oddly enough it has admired most those of them that the modern world most sharply disputes4 ,you complain of ,catholicism for setting up an ideal of virginity2 it did nothing of the kind4 ,the whole human race set up an ideal of virginity2 the ,greeks in ,athene1 the ,romans in the ,vestal fire1 set up an ideal of virginity4 ,what then is your real quarrel with ,catholicism8 ,your quarrel can only be1 your quarrel really only is1 that ,catholicism has achieved an ideal of virginity2 that it is no longer a mere piece of floating poetry4 ,but if you1 and a few feverish men1 in top hats1 running about in a street in ,london1 choose to differ as to the ideal itself1 not only from the ,church1 but from the ,parthenon whose name means virginity1 from the ,roman ,empire which went outwards from the virgin flame1 from the whole legend and tradition of ,europe1 from the lion who will not touch virgins1 from the unicorn who respects them1 and who make up together the bearers of your own national shield1 from the most living and lawless of your own poets1 from ,massinger1 who wrote the ,virgin ,martyr1 from ,shakespeare1 who wrote ,measure for ,measure--if you in ,fleet ,street differ from all this human experience1 does it never strike you that it may be ,fleet ,street that is wrong80 8,no10 answered ,turnbull2 8,i trust that ,i am sufficiently fair-minded to canvass and consider the idea2 but having considered it1 ,i think ,fleet ,street is right1 yes--even if the ,parthenon is wrong4 ,i think that as the world goes on new psychological atmospheres are generated1 and in these atmospheres it is possible to find delicacies and combinations which in other times would have to be represented by some ruder symbol4 ,every man feels the need of some element of purity in sex2 perhaps they can only typify purity as the absence of sex4 ,you will laugh if ,i suggest that we may have made in ,fleet ,street an atmosphere in which a man can be so passionate as ,sir ,lancelot and as pure as ,sir ,galahad4 ,but1 after all1 we have in the modern world erected many such atmospheres4 ,we have1 for instance1 a new and imaginative appreciation of children40 8,quite so10 replied ,mac,ian with a singular smile4 8,it has been very well put by one of the brightest of your young authors1 who said3 ',unless you become as little children ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven4' ,but you are quite right2 there is a modern worship of children4 ,and what1 ,i ask you1 is this modern worship of children8 ,what1 in the name of all the angels and devils1 is it except a worship of virginity8 ,why should anyone worship a thing merely because it is small or immature8 ,no2 you have tried to escape from this thing1 and the very thing you point to as the goal of your escape is only the thing again4 ,am ,i wrong in saying that these things seem to be eternal80 ,and it was with these words that they came in sight of the great plains4 ,they went a little way in silence1 and then ,james ,turnbull said suddenly1 8,but ,i cannot believe in the thing40 ,mac,ian answered nothing to the speech2 perhaps it is unanswerable4 ,and indeed they scarcely spoke another word to each other all that day4 ,,ix4 ,,the ,,strange ,,lady ,moonrise with a great and growing moon opened over all those flats1 making them seem flatter and larger than they were1 turning them to a lake of blue light4 ,the two companions trudged across the moonlit plain for half an hour in full silence4 ,then ,mac,ian stopped suddenly and planted his sword-point in the ground like one who plants his tent-pole for the night4 ,leaving it standing there1 he clutched his black-haired skull with his great claws of hands1 as was his custom when forcing the pace of his brain4 ,then his hands dropped again and he spoke4 8,i'm sure you're thinking the same as ,i am10 he said2 8how long are we to be on this damned seesaw80 ,the other did not answer1 but his silence seemed somehow solid as assent2 and ,mac,ian went on conversationally4 ,neither noticed that both had instinctively stood still before the sign of the fixed and standing sword4 8,it is hard to guess what ,god means in this business4 ,but he means something--or the other thing1 or both4 ,whenever we have tried to fight each other something has stopped us4 ,whenever we have tried to be reconciled to each other1 something has stopped us again4 ,by the run of our luck we have never had time to be either friends or enemies4 ,something always jumped out of the bushes40 ,turnbull nodded gravely and glanced round at the huge and hedgeless meadow which fell away towards the horizon into a glimmering high road4 8,nothing will jump out of bushes here anyhow10 he said4 8,that is what ,i meant10 said ,mac,ian1 and stared steadily at the heavy hilt of his standing sword1 which in the slight wind swayed on its tempered steel like some huge thistle on its stalk4 8,that is what ,i meant2 we are quite alone here4 ,i have not heard a horse-hoof or a footstep or the hoot of a train for miles4 ,so ,i think we might stop here and ask for a miracle40 8,oh6 might we80 said the atheistic editor with a sort of gusto of disgust4 8,i beg your pardon10 said ,mac,ian1 meekly4 8,i forgot your prejudices40 ,he eyed the wind-swung sword-hilt in sad meditation and resumed3 8,what ,i mean is1 we might find out in this quiet place whether there really is any fate or any commandment against our enterprise4 ,i will engage on my side1 like ,elijah1 to accept a test from heaven4 ,turnbull1 let us draw swords here in this moonlight and this monstrous solitude4 ,and if here in this moonlight and solitude there happens anything to interrupt us--if it be lightning striking our sword-blades or a rabbit running under our legs--,i will take it as a sign from ,god and we will shake hands for ever40 ,turnbull's mouth twitched in angry humour under his red moustache4 ,he said3 8,i will wait for signs from ,god until ,i have any signs of ,his existence2 but ,god--or ,fate--forbid that a man of scientific culture should refuse any kind of experiment40 8,very well1 then10 said ,mac,ian1 shortly4 8,we are more quiet here than anywhere else2 let us engage40 ,and he plucked his sword-point out of the turf4 ,turnbull regarded him for a second and a half with a baffling visage almost black against the moonrise2 then his hand made a sharp movement to his hip and his sword shone in the moon4 ,as old chess-players open every game with established gambits1 they opened with a thrust and parry1 orthodox and even frankly ineffectual4 ,but in ,mac,ian's soul more formless storms were gathering1 and he made a lunge or two so savage as first to surprise and then to enrage his opponent4 ,turnbull ground his teeth1 kept his temper1 and waiting for the third lunge1 and the worst1 had almost spitted the lunger when a shrill1 small cry came from behind him1 a cry such as is not made by any of the beasts that perish4 ,turnbull must have been more superstitious than he knew1 for he stopped in the act of going forward4 ,mac,ian was brazenly superstitious1 and he dropped his sword4 ,after all1 he had challenged the universe to send an interruption2 and this was an interruption1 whatever else it was4 ,an instant afterwards the sharp1 weak cry was repeated4 ,this time it was certain that it was human and that it was female4 ,mac,ian stood rolling those great blue ,gaelic eyes that contrasted with his dark hair4 8,it is the voice of ,god10 he said again and again4 8,god hasn't got much of a voice10 said ,turnbull1 who snatched at every chance of cheap profanity4 8,as a matter of fact1 ,mac,ian1 it isn't the voice of ,god1 but it's something a jolly sight more important--it is the voice of man--or rather of woman4 ,so ,i think we'd better scoot in its direction40 ,mac,ian snatched up his fallen weapon without a word1 and the two raced away towards that part of the distant road from which the cry was now constantly renewed4 ,they had to run over a curve of country that looked smooth but was very rough2 a neglected field which they soon found to be full of the tallest grasses and the deepest rabbit-holes4 ,moreover1 that great curve of the countryside which looked so slow and gentle when you glanced over it1 proved to be highly precipitous when you scampered over it2 and ,turnbull was twice nearly flung on his face4 ,mac,ian1 though much heavier1 avoided such an overthrow only by having the quick and incalculable feet of the mountaineer2 but both of them may be said to have leapt off a low cliff when they leapt into the road4 ,the moonlight lay on the white road with a more naked and electric glare than on the grey-green upland1 and though the scene which it revealed was complicated1 it was not difficult to get its first features at a glance4 ,a small but very neat black-and-yellow motor-car was standing stolidly1 slightly to the left of the road4 ,a somewhat larger light-green motor-car was tipped half-way into a ditch on the same side1 and four flushed and staggering men in evening dress were tipped out of it4 ,three of them were standing about the road1 giving their opinions to the moon with vague but echoing violence4 ,the fourth1 however1 had already advanced on the chauffeur of the black-and-yellow car1 and was threatening him with a stick4 ,the chauffeur had risen to defend himself4 ,by his side sat a young lady4 ,she was sitting bolt upright1 a slender and rigid figure gripping the sides of her seat1 and her first few cries had ceased4 ,she was clad in close-fitting dark costume1 a mass of warm brown hair went out in two wings or waves on each side of her forehead2 and even at that distance it could be seen that her profile was of the aquiline and eager sort1 like a young falcon hardly free of the nest4 ,turnbull had concealed in him somewhere a fund of common sense and knowledge of the world of which he himself and his best friends were hardly aware4 ,he was one of those who take in much of the shows of things absent-mindedly1 and in an irrelevant reverie4 ,as he stood at the door of his editorial shop on ,ludgate ,hill and meditated on the non-existence of ,god1 he silently absorbed a good deal of varied knowledge about the existence of men4 ,he had come to know types by instinct and dilemmas with a glance2 he saw the crux of the situation in the road1 and what he saw made him redouble his pace4 ,he knew that the men were rich2 he knew that they were drunk2 and he knew1 what was worst of all1 that they were fundamentally frightened4 ,and he knew this also1 that no common ruffian 7such as attacks ladies in novels7 is ever so savage and ruthless as a coarse kind of gentleman when he is really alarmed4 ,the reason is not recondite2 it is simply because the police-court is not such a menacing novelty to the poor ruffian as it is to the rich4 ,when they came within hail and heard the voices1 they confirmed all ,turnbull's anticipations4 ,the man in the middle of the road was shouting in a hoarse and groggy voice that the chauffeur had smashed their car on purpose2 that they must get to the ,cri that evening1 and that he would jolly well have to take them there4 ,the chauffeur had mildly objected that he was driving a lady4 8,oh6 we'll take care of the lady10 said the red-faced young man1 and went off into gurgling and almost senile laughter4 ,by the time the two champions came up1 things had grown more serious4 ,the intoxication of the man talking to the chauffeur had taken one of its perverse and catlike jumps into mere screaming spite and rage4 ,he lifted his stick and struck at the chauffeur1 who caught hold of it1 and the drunkard fell backwards1 dragging him out of his seat on the car4 ,another of the rowdies rushed forward booing in idiot excitement1 fell over the chauffeur1 and1 either by accident or design1 kicked him as he lay4 ,the drunkard got to his feet again2 but the chauffeur did not4 ,the man who had kicked kept a kind of half-witted conscience or cowardice1 for he stood staring at the senseless body and murmuring words of inconsequent self-justification1 making gestures with his hands as if he were arguing with somebody4 ,but the other three1 with a mere whoop and howl of victory1 were boarding the car on three sides at once4 ,it was exactly at this moment that ,turnbull fell among them like one fallen from the sky4 ,he tore one of the climbers backward by the collar1 and with a hearty push sent him staggering over into the ditch upon his nose4 ,one of the remaining two1 who was too far gone to notice anything1 continued to clamber ineffectually over the high back of the car1 kicking and pouring forth a rivulet of soliloquy4 ,but the other dropped at the interruption1 turned upon ,turnbull and began a battering bout of fisticuffs4 ,at the same moment the man crawled out of the ditch in a masquerade of mud and rushed at his old enemy from behind4 ,the whole had not taken a second2 and an instant after ,mac,ian was in the midst of them4 ,turnbull had tossed away his sheathed sword1 greatly preferring his hands1 except in the avowed etiquette of the duel2 for he had learnt to use his hands in the old street-battles of ,bradlaugh4 ,but to ,mac,ian the sword even sheathed was a more natural weapon1 and he laid about him on all sides with it as with a stick4 ,the man who had the walking-stick found his blows parried with promptitude2 and a second after1 to his great astonishment1 found his own stick fly up in the air as by a conjuring trick1 with a turn of the swordsman's wrist4 ,another of the revellers picked the stick out of the ditch and ran in upon ,mac,ian1 calling to his companion to assist him4 8,i haven't got a stick10 grumbled the disarmed man1 and looked vaguely about the ditch4 8,perhaps10 said ,mac,ian1 politely1 8you would like this one40 ,with the word the drunkard found his hand that had grasped the stick suddenly twisted and empty2 and the stick lay at the feet of his companion on the other side of the road4 ,mac,ian felt a faint stir behind him2 the girl had risen to her feet and was leaning forward to stare at the fighters4 ,turnbull was still engaged in countering and pommelling with the third young man4 ,the fourth young man was still engaged with himself1 kicking his legs in helpless rotation on the back of the car and talking with melodious rationality4 ,at length ,turnbull's opponent began to back before the battery of his heavy hands1 still fighting1 for he was the soberest and boldest of the four4 ,if these are annals of military glory1 it is due to him to say that he need not have abandoned the conflict2 only that as he backed to the edge of the ditch his foot caught in a loop of grass and he went over in a flat and comfortable position from which it took him a considerable time to rise4 ,by the time he had risen1 ,turnbull had come to the rescue of ,mac,ian1 who was at bay but belabouring his two enemies handsomely4 ,the sight of the liberated reserve was to them like that of ,blucher at ,waterloo2 the two set off at a sullen trot down the road1 leaving even the walking-stick lying behind them in the moonlight4 ,mac,ian plucked the struggling and aspiring idiot off the back of the car like a stray cat1 and left him swaying unsteadily in the moon4 ,then he approached the front part of the car in a somewhat embarrassed manner and pulled off his cap4 ,for some solid seconds the lady and he merely looked at each other1 and ,mac,ian had an irrational feeling of being in a picture hung on a wall4 ,that is1 he was motionless1 even lifeless1 and yet staringly significant1 like a picture4 ,the white moonlight on the road1 when he was not looking at it1 gave him a vision of the road being white with snow4 ,the motor-car1 when he was not looking at it1 gave him a rude impression of a captured coach in the old days of highwaymen4 ,and he whose whole soul was with the swords and stately manners of the eighteenth century1 he who was a ,jacobite risen from the dead1 had an overwhelming sense of being once more in the picture1 when he had so long been out of the picture4 ,in that short and strong silence he absorbed the lady from head to foot4 ,he had never really looked at a human being before in his life4 ,he saw her face and hair first1 then that she had long suede gloves2 then that there was a fur cap at the back of her brown hair4 ,he might1 perhaps1 be excused for this hungry attention4 ,he had prayed that some sign might come from heaven2 and after an almost savage scrutiny he came to the conclusion that his one did4 ,the lady's instantaneous arrest of speech might need more explaining2 but she may well have been stunned with the squalid attack and the abrupt rescue4 ,yet it was she who remembered herself first and suddenly called out with self-accusing horror3 8,oh1 that poor1 poor man60 ,they both swung round abruptly and saw that ,turnbull1 with his recovered sword under his arm-pit1 was already lifting the fallen chauffeur into the car4 ,he was only stunned and was slowly awakening1 feebly waving his left arm4 ,the lady in long gloves and the fur cap leapt out and ran rapidly towards them1 only to be reassured by ,turnbull1 who 7unlike many of his school7 really knew a little science when he invoked it to redeem the world4 8,he's all right10 said he2 8he's quite safe4 ,but ,i'm afraid he won't be able to drive the car for half an hour or so40 8,i can drive the car10 said the young woman in the fur cap with stony practicability4 8,oh1 in that case10 began ,mac,ian1 uneasily2 and that paralysing shyness which is a part of romance induced him to make a backward movement as if leaving her to herself4 ,but ,turnbull was more rational than he1 being more indifferent4 8,i don't think you ought to drive home alone1 ma'am10 he said1 gruffly4 8,there seem to be a lot of rowdy parties along this road1 and the man will be no use for an hour4 ,if you will tell us where you are going1 we will see you safely there and say good night40 ,the young lady exhibited all the abrupt disturbance of a person who is not commonly disturbed4 ,she said almost sharply and yet with evident sincerity3 8,of course ,i am awfully grateful to you for all you've done--and there's plenty of room if you'll come in40 ,turnbull1 with the complete innocence of an absolutely sound motive1 immediately jumped into the car2 but the girl cast an eye at ,mac,ian1 who stood in the road for an instant as if rooted like a tree4 ,then he also tumbled his long legs into the tonneau1 having that sense of degradedly diving into heaven which so many have known in so many human houses when they consented to stop to tea or were allowed to stop to supper4 ,the slowly reviving chauffeur was set in the back seat2 ,turnbull and ,mac,ian had fallen into the middle one2 the lady with a steely coolness had taken the driver's seat and all the handles of that headlong machine4 ,a moment afterwards the engine started1 with a throb and leap unfamiliar to ,turnbull1 who had only once been in a motor during a general election1 and utterly unknown to ,mac,ian1 who in his present mood thought it was the end of the world4 ,almost at the same instant that the car plucked itself out of the mud and whipped away up the road1 the man who had been flung into the ditch rose waveringly to his feet4 ,when he saw the car escaping he ran after it and shouted something which1 owing to the increasing distance1 could not be heard4 ,it is awful to reflect that1 if his remark was valuable1 it is quite lost to the world4 ,the car shot on up and down the shining moonlit lanes1 and there was no sound in it except the occasional click or catch of its machinery2 for through some cause or other no soul inside it could think of a word to say4 ,the lady symbolized her feelings1 whatever they were1 by urging the machine faster and faster until scattered woodlands went by them in one black blotch and heavy hills and valleys seemed to ripple under the wheels like mere waves4 ,a little while afterwards this mood seemed to slacken and she fell into a more ordinary pace2 but still she did not speak4 ,turnbull1 who kept a more common and sensible view of the case than anyone else1 made some remark about the moonlight2 but something indescribable made him also relapse into silence4 ,all this time ,mac,ian had been in a sort of monstrous delirium1 like some fabulous hero snatched up into the moon4 ,the difference between this experience and common experiences was analogous to that between waking life and a dream4 ,yet he did not feel in the least as if he were dreaming2 rather the other way2 as waking was more actual than dreaming1 so this seemed by another degree more actual than waking itself4 ,but it was another life altogether1 like a cosmos with a new dimension4 ,he felt he had been hurled into some new incarnation3 into the midst of new relations1 wrongs and rights1 with towering responsibilities and almost tragic joys which he had as yet had no time to examine4 ,heaven had not merely sent him a message2 ,heaven itself had opened around him and given him an hour of its own ancient and star-shattering energy4 ,he had never felt so much alive before2 and yet he was like a man in a trance4 ,and if you had asked him on what his throbbing happiness hung1 he could only have told you that it hung on four or five visible facts1 as a curtain hangs on four of five fixed nails4 ,the fact that the lady had a little fur at her throat2 the fact that the curve of her cheek was a low and lean curve and that the moonlight caught the height of her cheek-bone2 the fact that her hands were small but heavily gloved as they gripped the steering-wheel2 the fact that a white witch light was on the road2 the fact that the brisk breeze of their passage stirred and fluttered a little not only the brown hair of her head but the black fur on her cap4 ,all these facts were to him certain and incredible1 like sacraments4 ,when they had driven half a mile farther1 a big shadow was flung across the path1 followed by its bulky owner1 who eyed the car critically but let it pass4 ,the silver moonlight picked out a piece or two of pewter ornament on his blue uniform2 and as they went by they knew it was a sergeant of police4 ,three hundred yards farther on another policeman stepped out into the road as if to stop them1 then seemed to doubt his own authority and stepped back again4 ,the girl was a daughter of the rich2 and this police suspicion 7under which all the poor live day and night7 stung her for the first time into speech4 8,what can they mean80 she cried out in a kind of temper2 8this car's going like a snail40 ,there was a short silence1 and then ,turnbull said3 8,it is certainly very odd1 you are driving quietly enough40 8,you are driving nobly10 said ,mac,ian1 and his words 7which had no meaning whatever7 sounded hoarse and ungainly even in his own ears4 ,they passed the next mile and a half swiftly and smoothly2 yet among the many things which they passed in the course of it was a clump of eager policemen standing at a cross-road4 ,as they passed1 one of the policemen shouted something to the others2 but nothing else happened4 ,eight hundred yards farther on1 ,turnbull stood up suddenly in the swaying car4 8,my ,god1 ,mac,ian60 he called out1 showing his first emotion of that night4 8,i don't believe it's the pace2 it couldn't be the pace4 ,i believe it's us40 ,mac,ian sat motionless for a few moments and then turned up at his companion a face that was as white as the moon above it4 8,you may be right10 he said at last2 8if you are1 ,i must tell her40 8,i will tell the lady if you like10 said ,turnbull1 with his unconquered good temper4 8,you60 said ,mac,ian1 with a sort of sincere and instinctive astonishment4 8,why should you--no1 ,i must tell her1 of course----0 ,and he leant forward and spoke to the lady in the fur cap4 8,i am afraid1 madam1 that we may have got you into some trouble10 he said1 and even as he said it it sounded wrong1 like everything he said to this particular person in the long gloves4 8,the fact is10 he resumed1 desperately1 8the fact is1 we are being chased by the police40 ,then the last flattening hammer fell upon poor ,evan's embarrassment2 for the fluffy brown head with the furry black cap did not turn by a section of the compass4 8,we are chased by the police10 repeated ,mac,ian1 vigorously2 then he added1 as if beginning an explanation1 8,you see1 ,i am a ,catholic40 ,the wind whipped back a curl of the brown hair so as to necessitate a new theory of aesthetics touching the line of the cheek-bone2 but the head did not turn4 8,you see10 began ,mac,ian1 again blunderingly1 8this gentleman wrote in his newspaper that ,our ,lady was a common woman1 a bad woman1 and so we agreed to fight2 and we were fighting quite a little time ago--but that was before we saw you40 ,the young lady driving her car had half turned her face to listen2 and it was not a reverent or a patient face that she showed him4 ,her ,norman nose was tilted a trifle too high upon the slim stalk of her neck and body4 ,when ,mac,ian saw that arrogant and uplifted profile pencilled plainly against the moonshine1 he accepted an ultimate defeat4 ,he had expected the angels to despise him if he were wrong1 but not to despise him so much as this4 8,you see10 said the stumbling spokesman1 8,i was angry with him when he insulted the ,mother of ,god1 and ,i asked him to fight a duel with me2 but the police are all trying to stop it40 ,nothing seemed to waver or flicker in the fair young falcon profile2 and it only opened its lips to say1 after a silence3 8,i thought people in our time were supposed to respect each other's religion40 ,under the shadow of that arrogant face ,mac,ian could only fall back on the obvious answer3 8,but what about a man's irreligion80 ,the face only answered3 8,well1 you ought to be more broadminded40 ,if anyone else in the world had said the words1 ,mac,ian would have snorted with his equine neigh of scorn4 ,but in this case he seemed knocked down by a superior simplicity1 as if his eccentric attitude were rebuked by the innocence of a child4 ,he could not dissociate anything that this woman said or did or wore from an idea of spiritual rarity and virtue4 ,like most others under the same elemental passion1 his soul was at present soaked in ethics4 ,he could have applied moral terms to the material objects of her environment4 ,if someone had spoken of 8her generous ribbon0 or 8her chivalrous gloves0 or 8her merciful shoe-buckle10 it would not have seemed to him nonsense4 ,he was silent1 and the girl went on in a lower key as if she were momentarily softened and a little saddened also4 8,it won't do1 you know10 she said2 8you can't find out the truth in that way4 ,there are such heaps of churches and people thinking different things nowadays1 and they all think they are right4 ,my uncle was a ,swedenborgian40 ,mac,ian sat with bowed head1 listening hungrily to her voice but hardly to her words1 and seeing his great world drama grow smaller and smaller before his eyes till it was no bigger than a child's toy theatre4 8,the time's gone by for all that10 she went on2 8you can't find out the real thing like that--if there is really anything to find----0 and she sighed rather drearily2 for1 like many of the women of our wealthy class1 she was old and broken in thought1 though young and clean enough in her emotions4 8,our object10 said ,turnbull1 shortly1 8is to make an effective demonstration02 and after that word1 ,mac,ian looked at his vision again and found it smaller than ever4 8,it would be in the newspapers1 of course10 said the girl4 8,people read the newspapers1 but they don't believe them1 or anything else1 ,i think40 ,and she sighed again4 ,she drove in silence a third of a mile before she added1 as if completing the sentence3 8,anyhow1 the whole thing's quite absurd40 8,i don't think10 began ,turnbull1 8that you quite realize----,hullo6 hullo--hullo--what's this80 ,the amateur chauffeur had been forced to bring the car to a staggering stoppage1 for a file of fat1 blue policemen made a wall across the way4 ,a sergeant came to the side and touched his peaked cap to the lady4 8,beg your pardon1 miss10 he said with some embarrassment1 for he knew her for a daughter of a dominant house1 8but we have reason to believe that the gentlemen in your car are----0 and he hesitated for a polite phrase4 8,i am ,evan ,mac,ian10 said that gentleman1 and stood up in a sort of gloomy pomp1 not wholly without a touch of the sulks of a schoolboy4 8,yes1 we will get out1 sergeant10 said ,turnbull1 more easily2 8my name is ,james ,turnbull4 ,we must not incommode the lady40 8,what are you taking them up for80 asked the young woman1 looking straight in front of her along the road4 8,it's under the new act10 said the sergeant1 almost apologetically4 8,incurable disturbers of the peace40 8,what will happen to them80 she asked1 with the same frigid clearness4 8,westgate ,adult ,reformatory10 he replied1 briefly4 8,until when80 8,until they are cured10 said the official4 8,very well1 sergeant10 said the young lady1 with a sort of tired common sense4 8,i am sure ,i don't want to protect criminals or go against the law2 but ,i must tell you that these gentlemen have done me a considerable service2 you won't mind drawing your men a little farther off while ,i say good night to them4 ,men like that always misunderstand40 ,the sergeant was profoundly disquieted from the beginning at the mere idea of arresting anyone in the company of a great lady2 to refuse one of her minor requests was quite beyond his courage4 ,the police fell back to a few yards behind the car4 ,turnbull took up the two swords that were their only luggage2 the swords that1 after so many half duels1 they were now to surrender at last4 ,mac,ian1 the blood thundering in his brain at the thought of that instant of farewell1 bent over1 fumbled at the handle and flung open the door to get out4 ,but he did not get out4 ,he did not get out1 because it is dangerous to jump out of a car when it is going at full speed4 ,and the car was going at full speed1 because the young lady1 without turning her head or so much as saying a syllable1 had driven down a handle that made the machine plunge forward like a buffalo and then fly over the landscape like a greyhound4 ,the police made one rush to follow1 and then dropped so grotesque and hopeless a chase4 ,away in the vanishing distance they could see the sergeant furiously making notes4 ,the open door1 still left loose on its hinges1 swung and banged quite crazily as they went whizzing up one road and down another4 ,nor did ,mac,ian sit down2 he stood up stunned and yet staring1 as he would have stood up at the trumpet of the ,last ,day4 ,a black dot in the distance sprang up a tall black forest1 swallowed them and spat them out again at the other end4 ,a railway bridge grew larger and larger till it leapt upon their backs bellowing1 and was in its turn left behind4 ,avenues of poplars on both sides of the road chased each other like the figures in a zoetrope4 ,now and then with a shock and rattle they went through sleeping moonlit villages1 which must have stirred an instant in their sleep as at the passing of a fugitive earthquake4 ,sometimes in an outlying house a light in one erratic1 unexpected window would give them a nameless hint of the hundred human secrets which they left behind them with their dust4 ,sometimes even a slouching rustic would be afoot on the road and would look after them1 as after a flying phantom4 ,but still ,mac,ian stood up staring at earth and heaven2 and still the door he had flung open flapped loose like a flag4 ,turnbull1 after a few minutes of dumb amazement1 had yielded to the healthiest element in his nature and gone off into uncontrollable fits of laughter4 ,the girl had not stirred an inch4 ,after another half mile that seemed a mere flash1 ,turnbull leant over and locked the door4 ,evan staggered at last into his seat and hid his throbbing head in his hands2 and still the car flew on and its driver sat inflexible and silent4 ,the moon had already gone down1 and the whole darkness was faintly troubled with twilight and the first movement of beasts and fowls4 ,it was that mysterious moment when light is coming as if it were something unknown whose nature one could not guess--a mere alteration in everything4 ,they looked at the sky and it seemed as dark as ever2 then they saw the black shape of a tower or tree against it and knew that it was already grey4 ,save that they were driving southward and had certainly passed the longitude of ,london1 they knew nothing of their direction2 but ,turnbull1 who had spent a year on the ,hampshire coast in his youth1 began to recognize the unmistakable but quite indescribable villages of the ,english south4 ,then a white witch fire began to burn between the black stems of the fir-trees2 and1 like so many things in nature1 though not in books on evolution1 the daybreak1 when it did come1 came much quicker than one would think4 ,the gloomy heavens were ripped up and rolled away like a scroll1 revealing splendours1 as the car went roaring up the curve of a great hill2 and above them and black against the broadening light1 there stood one of those crouching and fantastic trees that are first signals of the sea4 ,x4 ,,the ,,swords ,,rejoined ,as they came over the hill and down on the other side of it1 it is not too much to say that the whole universe of ,god opened over them and under them1 like a thing unfolding to five times its size4 ,almost under their feet opened the enormous sea1 at the bottom of a steep valley which fell down into a bay2 and the sea under their feet blazed at them almost as lustrous and almost as empty as the sky4 ,the sunrise opened above them like some cosmic explosion1 shining and shattering and yet silent2 as if the world were blown to pieces without a sound4 ,round the rays of the victorious sun swept a sort of rainbow of confused and conquered colours--brown and blue and green and flaming rose-colour2 as though gold were driving before it all the colours of the world4 ,the lines of the landscape down which they sped1 were the simple1 strict1 yet swerving1 lines of a rushing river2 so that it was almost as if they were being sucked down in a huge still whirlpool4 ,turnbull had some such feeling1 for he spoke for the first time for many hours4 8,if we go down at this rate we shall be over the sea cliff10 he said4 8,how glorious60 said ,mac,ian4 ,when1 however1 they had come into the wide hollow at the bottom of that landslide1 the car took a calm and graceful curve along the side of the sea1 melted into the fringe of a few trees1 and quietly1 yet astonishingly1 stopped4 ,a belated light was burning in the broad morning in the window of a sort of lodge- or gate-keepers' cottage2 and the girl stood up in the car and turned her splendid face to the sun4 ,evan seemed startled by the stillness1 like one who had been born amid sound and speed4 ,he wavered on his long legs as he stood up2 he pulled himself together1 and the only consequence was that he trembled from head to foot4 ,turnbull had already opened the door on his side and jumped out4 ,the moment he had done so the strange young woman had one more mad movement1 and deliberately drove the car a few yards farther4 ,then she got out with an almost cruel coolness and began pulling off her long gloves and almost whistling4 8,you can leave me here10 she said1 quite casually1 as if they had met five minutes before4 8,that is the lodge of my father's place4 ,please come in1 if you like--but ,i understood that you had some business40 ,evan looked at that lifted face and found it merely lovely2 he was far too much of a fool to see that it was working with a final fatigue and that its austerity was agony4 ,he was even fool enough to ask it a question4 8,why did you save us80 he said1 quite humbly4 ,the girl tore off one of her gloves1 as if she were tearing off her hand4 8,oh1 ,i don't know10 she said1 bitterly4 8,now ,i come to think of it1 ,i can't imagine40 ,evan's thoughts1 that had been piled up to the morning star1 abruptly let him down with a crash into the very cellars of the emotional universe4 ,he remained in a stunned silence for a long time2 and that1 if he had only known1 was the wisest thing that he could possibly do at the moment4 ,indeed1 the silence and the sunrise had their healing effect1 for when the extraordinary lady spoke again1 her tone was more friendly and apologetic4 8,i'm not really ungrateful10 she said2 8it was very good of you to save me from those men40 8,but why80 repeated the obstinate and dazed ,mac,ian1 8why did you save us from the other men8 ,i mean the policemen80 ,the girl's great brown eyes were lit up with a flash that was at once final desperation and the loosening of some private and passionate reserve4 8,oh1 ,god knows60 she cried4 8,god knows that if there is a ,god ,he has turned ,his big back on everything4 ,god knows ,i have had no pleasure in my life1 though ,i am pretty and young and father has plenty of money4 ,and then people come and tell me that ,i ought to do things and ,i do them and it's all drivel4 ,they want you to do work among the poor2 which means reading ,ruskin and feeling self-righteous in the best room in a poor tenement4 ,or to help some cause or other1 which always means bundling people out of crooked houses1 in which they've always lived1 into straight houses1 in which they often die4 ,and all the time you have inside only the horrid irony of your own empty head and empty heart4 ,i am to give to the unfortunate1 when my whole misfortune is that ,i have nothing to give4 ,i am to teach1 when ,i believe nothing at all that ,i was taught4 ,i am to save the children from death1 and ,i am not even certain that ,i should not be better dead4 ,i suppose if ,i actually saw a child drowning ,i should save it4 ,but that would be from the same motive from which ,i have saved you1 or destroyed you1 whichever it is that ,i have done40 8,what was the motive80 asked ,evan1 in a low voice4 8,my motive is too big for my mind10 answered the girl4 ,then1 after a pause1 as she stared with a rising colour at the glittering sea1 she said3 8,it can't be described1 and yet ,i am trying to describe it4 ,it seems to me not only that ,i am unhappy1 but that there is no way of being happy4 ,father is not happy1 though he is a ,member of ,parliament----0 ,she paused a moment and added with a ghost of a smile3 8,nor ,aunt ,mabel1 though a man from ,india has told her the secret of all creeds4 ,but ,i may be wrong2 there may be a way out4 ,and for one stark1 insane second1 ,i felt that1 after all1 you had got the way out and that was why the world hated you4 ,you see1 if there were a way out1 it would be sure to be something that looked very queer40 ,evan put his hand to his forehead and began stumblingly3 8,yes1 ,i suppose we do seem----0 8,oh1 yes1 you look queer enough10 she said1 with ringing sincerity4 8,you'll be all the better for a wash and brush up40 8,you forget our business1 madam10 said ,evan1 in a shaking voice2 8we have no concern but to kill each other40 8,well1 ,i shouldn't be killed looking like that if ,i were you10 she replied1 with inhuman honesty4 ,evan stood and rolled his eyes in masculine bewilderment4 ,then came the final change in this ,proteus1 and she put out both her hands for an instant and said in a low tone on which he lived for days and nights3 8,don't you understand that ,i did not dare to stop you8 ,what you are doing is so mad that it may be quite true4 ,somehow one can never really manage to be an atheist40 ,turnbull stood staring at the sea2 but his shoulders showed that he heard1 and after one minute he turned his head4 ,but the girl had only brushed ,evan's hand with hers and had fled up the dark alley by the lodge gate4 ,evan stood rooted upon the road1 literally like some heavy statue hewn there in the age of the ,druids4 ,it seemed impossible that he should ever move4 ,turnbull grew restless with this rigidity1 and at last1 after calling his companion twice or thrice1 went up and clapped him impatiently on one of his big shoulders4 ,evan winced and leapt away from him with a repulsion which was not the hate of an unclean thing nor the dread of a dangerous one1 but was a spasm of awe and separation from something from which he was now sundered as by the sword of ,god4 ,he did not hate the atheist2 it is possible that he loved him4 ,but ,turnbull was now something more dreadful than an enemy3 he was a thing sealed and devoted--a thing now hopelessly doomed to be either a corpse or an executioner4 8,what is the matter with you80 asked ,turnbull1 with his hearty hand still in the air2 and yet he knew more about it than his innocent action would allow4 8,james10 said ,evan1 speaking like one under strong bodily pain1 8,i asked for ,god's answer and ,i have got it--got it in my vitals4 ,he knows how weak ,i am1 and that ,i might forget the peril of the faith1 forget the face of ,our ,lady--yes1 even with your blow upon her cheek4 ,but the honour of this earth has just this about it1 that it can make a man's heart like iron4 ,i am from the ,lords of the ,isles and ,i dare not be a mere deserter4 ,therefore1 ,god has tied me by the chain of my worldly place and word1 and there is nothing but fighting now40 8,i think ,i understand you10 said ,turnbull1 8but you say everything tail foremost40 8,she wants us to do it10 said ,evan1 in a voice crushed with passion4 8,she has hurt herself so that we might do it4 ,she has left her good name and her good sleep and all her habits and dignity flung away on the other side of ,england in the hope that she may hear of us and that we have broken some hole into heaven40 8,i thought ,i knew what you mean10 said ,turnbull1 biting his beard2 8it does seem as if we ought to do something after all she has done this night40 8,i never liked you so much before10 said ,mac,ian1 in bitter sorrow4 ,as he spoke1 three solemn footmen came out of the lodge gate and assembled to assist the chauffeur to his room4 ,the mere sight of them made the two wanderers flee as from a too frightful incongruity1 and before they knew where they were1 they were well upon the grassy ledge of ,england that overlooks the ,channel4 ,evan said suddenly3 8,will they let me see her in heaven once in a thousand ages80 and addressed the remark to the editor of ,the ,atheist1 as on which he would be likely or qualified to answer4 ,but no answer came2 a silence sank between the two4 ,turnbull strode sturdily to the edge of the cliff and looked out1 his companion following1 somewhat more shaken by his recent agitation4 8,if that's the view you take10 said ,turnbull1 8and ,i don't say you are wrong1 ,i think ,i know where we shall be best off for the business4 ,as it happens1 ,i know this part of the south coast pretty well4 ,and unless ,i am mistaken there's a way down the cliff just here which will land us on a stretch of firm sand where no one is likely to follow us40 ,the ,highlander made a gesture of assent and came also almost to the edge of the precipice4 ,the sunrise1 which was broadening over sea and shore1 was one of those rare and splendid ones in which there seems to be no mist or doubt1 and nothing but a universal clarification more and more complete4 ,all the colours were transparent4 ,it seemed like a triumphant prophecy of some perfect world where everything being innocent will be intelligible2 a world where even our bodies1 so to speak1 may be as of burning glass4 ,such a world is faintly though fiercely figured in the coloured windows of ,christian architecture4 ,the sea that lay before them was like a pavement of emerald1 bright and almost brittle2 the sky against which its strict horizon hung was almost absolutely white1 except that close to the sky line1 like scarlet braids on the hem of a garment1 lay strings of flaky cloud of so gleaming and gorgeous a red that they seemed cut out of some strange blood-red celestial metal1 of which the mere gold of this earth is but a drab yellow imitation4 8,the hand of ,heaven is still pointing10 muttered the man of superstition to himself4 8,and now it is a blood-red hand40 ,the cool voice of his companion cut in upon his monologue1 calling to him from a little farther along the cliff1 to tell him that he had found the ladder of descent4 ,it began as a steep and somewhat greasy path1 which then tumbled down twenty or thirty feet in the form of a fall of rough stone steps4 ,after that1 there was a rather awkward drop on to a ledge of stone and then the journey was undertaken easily and even elegantly by the remains of an ornamental staircase1 such as might have belonged to some long-disused watering-place4 ,all the time that the two travellers sank from stage to stage of this downward journey1 there closed over their heads living bridges and caverns of the most varied foliage1 all of which grew greener1 redder1 or more golden1 in the growing sunlight of the morning4 ,life1 too1 of the more moving sort rose at the sun on every side of them4 ,birds whirred and fluttered in the undergrowth1 as if imprisoned in green cages4 ,other birds were shaken up in great clouds from the tree-tops1 as if they were blossoms detached and scattered up to heaven4 ,animals which ,turnbull was too much of a ,londoner and ,mac,ian too much of a ,northerner to know1 slipped by among the tangle or ran pattering up the tree-trunks4 ,both the men1 according to their several creeds1 felt the full thunder of the psalm of life as they had never heard it before2 ,mac,ian felt ,god the ,father1 benignant in all ,his energies1 and ,turnbull that ultimate anonymous energy1 that ,natura ,naturans1 which is the whole theme of ,lucretius4 ,it was down this clamorous ladder of life that they went down to die4 ,they broke out upon a brown semicircle of sand1 so free from human imprint as to justify ,turnbull's profession4 ,they strode out upon it1 stuck their swords in the sand1 and had a pause too important for speech4 ,turnbull eyed the coast curiously for a moment1 like one awakening memories of childhood2 then he said abruptly1 like a man remembering somebody's name3 8,but1 of course1 we shall be better off still round the corner of ,cragness ,point2 nobody ever comes there at all40 ,and picking up his sword again1 he began striding towards a big bluff of the rocks which stood out upon their left4 ,mac,ian followed him round the corner and found himself in what was certainly an even finer fencing court1 of flat1 firm sand1 enclosed on three sides by white walls of rock1 and on the fourth by the green wall of the advancing sea4 8,we are quite safe here10 said ,turnbull1 and1 to the other's surprise1 flung himself down1 sitting on the brown beach4 8,you see1 ,i was brought up near here10 he explained4 8,i was sent from ,scotland to stop with my aunt4 ,it is highly probable that ,i may die here4 ,do you mind if ,i light a pipe80 8,of course1 do whatever you like10 said ,mac,ian1 with a choking voice1 and he went and walked alone by himself along the wet1 glistening sands4 ,ten minutes afterwards he came back again1 white with his own whirlwind of emotions2 ,turnbull was quite cheerful and was knocking out the end of his pipe4 8,you see1 we have to do it10 said ,mac,ian4 8,she tied us to it40 8,of course1 my dear fellow10 said the other1 and leapt up as lightly as a monkey4 ,they took their places gravely in the very centre of the great square of sand1 as if they had thousands of spectators4 ,before saluting1 ,mac,ian1 who1 being a mystic1 was one inch nearer to ,nature1 cast his eye round the huge framework of their heroic folly4 ,the three walls of rock all leant a little outward1 though at various angles2 but this impression was exaggerated in the direction of the incredible by the heavy load of living trees and thickets which each wall wore on its top like a huge shock of hair4 ,on all that luxurious crest of life the risen and victorious sun was beating1 burnishing it all like gold1 and every bird that rose with that sunrise caught a light like a star upon it like the dove of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,imaginative life had never so much crowded upon ,mac,ian4 ,he felt that he could write whole books about the feelings of a single bird4 ,he felt that for two centuries he would not tire of being a rabbit4 ,he was in the ,palace of ,life1 of which the very tapestries and curtains were alive4 ,then he recovered himself1 and remembered his affairs4 ,both men saluted1 and iron rang upon iron4 ,it was exactly at the same moment that he realized that his enemy's left ankle was encircled with a ring of salt water that had crept up to his feet4 8,what is the matter80 said ,turnbull1 stopping an instant1 for he had grown used to every movement of his extraordinary fellow-traveller's face4 ,mac,ian glanced again at that silver anklet of sea-water and then looked beyond at the next promontory round which a deep sea was boiling and leaping4 ,then he turned and looked back and saw heavy foam being shaken up to heaven about the base of ,cragness ,point4 8,the sea has cut us off10 he said1 curtly4 8,i have noticed it10 said ,turnbull with equal sobriety4 8,what view do you take of the development80 ,evan threw away his weapon1 and1 as his custom was1 imprisoned his big head in his hands4 ,then he let them fall and said3 8,yes1 ,i know what it means2 and ,i think it is the fairest thing4 ,it is the finger of ,god--red as blood--still pointing4 ,but now it points to two graves40 ,there was a space filled with the sound of the sea1 and then ,mac,ian spoke again in a voice pathetically reasonable3 8,you see1 we both saved her--and she told us both to fight--and it would not be just that either should fail and fall alone1 while the other----0 8,you mean10 said ,turnbull1 in a voice surprisingly soft and gentle1 8that there is something fine about fighting in a place where even the conqueror must die80 8,oh1 you have got it right1 you have got it right60 cried out ,evan1 in an extraordinary childish ecstasy4 8,oh1 ,i'm sure that you really believe in ,god60 ,turnbull answered not a word1 but only took up his fallen sword4 ,for the third time ,evan ,mac,ian looked at those three sides of ,english cliff hung with their noisy load of life4 ,he had been at a loss to understand the almost ironical magnificence of all those teeming creatures and tropical colours and smells that smoked happily to heaven4 ,but now he knew that he was in the closed court of death and that all the gates were sealed4 ,he drank in the last green and the last red and the last gold1 those unique and indescribable things of ,god1 as a man drains good wine at the bottom of his glass4 ,then he turned and saluted his enemy once more1 and the two stood up and fought till the foam flowed over their knees4 ,then ,mac,ian stepped backward suddenly with a splash and held up his hand4 8,turnbull60 he cried2 8,i can't help it--fair fighting is more even than promises4 ,and this is not fair fighting40 8,what the deuce do you mean80 asked the other1 staring4 8,i've only just thought of it10 cried ,evan1 brokenly4 8,we're very well matched--it may go on a good time--the tide is coming up fast--and ,i'm a foot and a half taller4 ,you'll be washed away like seaweed before it's above my breeches4 ,i'll not fight foul for all the girls and angels in the universe40 8,will you oblige me10 said ,turnbull1 with staring grey eyes and a voice of distinct and violent politeness2 8will you oblige me by jolly well minding your own business8 ,just you stand up and fight1 and we'll see who will be washed away like seaweed4 ,you wanted to finish this fight and you shall finish it1 or ,i'll denounce you as a coward to the whole of that assembled company40 ,evan looked very doubtful and offered a somewhat wavering weapon2 but he was quickly brought back to his senses by his opponent's sword-point1 which shot past him1 shaving his shoulder by a hair4 ,by this time the waves were well up ,turnbull's thigh1 and what was worse1 they were beginning to roll and break heavily around them4 ,mac,ian parried this first lunge perfectly1 the next less perfectly2 the third in all human probability he would not have parried at all2 the ,christian champion would have been pinned like a butterfly1 and the atheistic champion left to drown like a rat1 with such consolation as his view of the cosmos afforded him4 ,but just as ,turnbull launched his heaviest stroke1 the sea1 in which he stood up to his hips1 launched a yet heavier one4 ,a wave breaking beyond the others smote him heavily like a hammer of water4 ,one leg gave way1 he was swung round and sucked into the retreating sea1 still gripping his sword4 ,mac,ian put his sword between his teeth and plunged after his disappearing enemy4 ,he had the sense of having the whole universe on top of him as crest after crest struck him down4 ,it seemed to him quite a cosmic collapse1 as if all the seven heavens were falling on him one after the other4 ,but he got hold of the atheist's left leg and he did not let it go4 ,after some ten minutes of foam and frenzy1 in which all the senses at once seemed blasted by the sea1 ,evan found himself laboriously swimming on a low1 green swell1 with the sword still in his teeth and the editor of ,the ,atheist still under his arm4 ,what he was going to do he had not even the most glimmering idea2 so he merely kept his grip and swam somehow with one hand4 ,he ducked instinctively as there bulked above him a big1 black wave1 much higher than any that he had seen4 ,then he saw that it was hardly the shape of any possible wave4 ,then he saw that it was a fisherman's boat1 and1 leaping upward1 caught hold of the bow4 ,the boat pitched forward with its stern in the air for just as much time as was needed to see that there was nobody in it4 ,after a moment or two of desperate clambering1 however1 there were two people in it1 ,mr4 ,evan ,mac,ian1 panting and sweating1 and ,mr4 ,james ,turnbull1 uncommonly close to being drowned4 ,after ten minutes' aimless tossing in the empty fishing-boat he recovered1 however1 stirred1 stretched himself1 and looked round on the rolling waters4 ,then1 while taking no notice of the streams of salt water that were pouring from his hair1 beard1 coat1 boots1 and trousers1 he carefully wiped the wet off his sword-blade to preserve it from the possibilities of rust4 ,mac,ian found two oars in the bottom of the deserted boat and began somewhat drearily to row4 99 99 99 ,a rainy twilight was clearing to cold silver over the moaning sea1 when the battered boat that had rolled and drifted almost aimlessly all night1 came within sight of land1 though of land which looked almost as lost and savage as the waves4 ,all night there had been but little lifting in the leaden sea1 only now and then the boat had been heaved up1 as on a huge shoulder which slipped from under it2 such occasional sea-quakes came probably from the swell of some steamer that had passed it in the dark2 otherwise the waves were harmless though restless4 ,but it was piercingly cold1 and there was1 from time to time1 a splutter of rain like the splutter of the spray1 which seemed almost to freeze as it fell4 ,mac,ian1 more at home than his companion in this quite barbarous and elemental sort of adventure1 had rowed toilsomely with the heavy oars whenever he saw anything that looked like land2 but for the most part had trusted with grim transcendentalism to wind and tide4 ,among the implements of their first outfit the brandy alone had remained to him1 and he gave it to his freezing companion in quantities which greatly alarmed that temperate ,londoner2 but ,mac,ian came from the cold seas and mists where a man can drink a tumbler of raw whisky in a boat without it making him wink4 ,when the ,highlander began to pull really hard upon the oars1 ,turnbull craned his dripping red head out of the boat to see the goal of his exertions4 ,it was a sufficiently uninviting one2 nothing so far as could be seen but a steep and shelving bank of shingle1 made of loose little pebbles such as children like1 but slanting up higher than a house4 ,on the top of the mound1 against the sky line1 stood up the brown skeleton of some broken fence or breakwater4 ,with the grey and watery dawn crawling up behind it1 the fence really seemed to say to our philosophic adventurers that they had come at last to the other end of nowhere4 ,bent by necessity to his labour1 ,mac,ian managed the heavy boat with real power and skill1 and when at length he ran it up on a smoother part of the slope it caught and held so that they could clamber out1 not sinking farther than their knees into the water and the shingle4 ,a foot or two farther up their feet found the beach firmer1 and a few moments afterwards they were leaning on the ragged breakwater and looking back at the sea they had escaped4 ,they had a dreary walk across wastes of grey shingle in the grey dawn before they began to come within hail of human fields or roads2 nor had they any notion of what fields or roads they would be4 ,their boots were beginning to break up and the confusion of stones tried them severely1 so that they were glad to lean on their swords1 as if they were the staves of pilgrims4 ,mac,ian thought vaguely of a weird ballad of his own country which describes the soul in ,purgatory as walking on a plain full of sharp stones1 and only saved by its own charities upon earth4 ,if ever thou gavest hosen and shoon ,every night and all1 ,sit thee down and put them on1 ,and ,christ receive thy soul4 ,turnbull had no such lyrical meditations1 but he was in an even worse temper4 ,at length they came to a pale ribbon of road1 edged by a shelf of rough and almost colourless turf2 and a few feet up the slope there stood grey and weather-stained1 one of those big wayside crucifixes which are seldom seen except in ,catholic countries4 ,mac,ian put his hand to his head and found that his bonnet was not there4 ,turnbull gave one glance at the crucifix--a glance at once sympathetic and bitter1 in which was concentrated the whole of ,swinburne's poem on the same occasion4 ,o hidden face of man1 whereover ,the years have woven a viewless veil1 ,if thou wert verily man's lover ,what did thy love or blood avail8 ,thy blood the priests mix poison of1 ,and in gold shekels coin thy love4 ,then1 leaving ,mac,ian in his attitude of prayer1 ,turnbull began to look right and left very sharply1 like one looking for something4 ,suddenly1 with a little cry1 he saw it and ran forward4 ,a few yards from them along the road a lean and starved sort of hedge came pitifully to an end4 ,caught upon its prickly angle1 however1 there was a very small and very dirty scrap of paper that might have hung there for months1 since it escaped from someone tearing up a letter or making a spill out of a newspaper4 ,turnbull snatched at it and found it was the corner of a printed page1 very coarsely printed1 like a cheap novelette1 and just large enough to contain the words3 8et c'est elle qui----0 8,hurrah60 cried ,turnbull1 waving his fragment2 8we are safe at last4 ,we are free at last4 ,we are somewhere better than ,england or ,eden or ,paradise4 ,mac,ian1 we are in the ,land of the ,duel60 8,where do you say80 said the other1 looking at him heavily and with knitted brows1 like one almost dazed with the grey doubts of desolate twilight and drifting sea4 8,we are in ,france60 cried ,turnbull1 with a voice like a trumpet1 8in the land where things really happen--,tout arrive en ,france4 ,we arrive in ,france4 ,look at this little message10 and he held out the scrap of paper4 8,there's an omen for you superstitious hill folk4 ,c'est elle qui--,mais oui1 mais oui1 c'est elle qui sauvera encore le monde40 8,france60 repeated ,mac,ian1 and his eyes awoke again in his head like large lamps lighted4 8,yes1 ,france60 said ,turnbull1 and all the rhetorical part of him came to the top1 his face growing as red as his hair4 8,france1 that has always been in rebellion for liberty and reason4 ,france1 that has always assailed superstition with the club of ,rabelais or the rapier of ,voltaire4 ,france1 at whose first council table sits the sublime figure of ,julian the ,apostate4 ,france1 where a man said only the other day those splendid unanswerable words0--with a superb gesture--8'we have extinguished in heaven those lights that men shall never light again4'0 8,no10 said ,mac,ian1 in a voice that shook with a controlled passion4 8,but ,france1 which was taught by ,st4 ,bernard and led to war by ,joan of ,arc4 ,france that made the crusades4 ,france that saved the ,church and scattered the heresies by the mouths of ,bossuet and ,massillon4 ,france1 which shows today the conquering march of ,catholicism1 as brain after brain surrenders to it1 ,brunetire1 ,coppe1 ,hauptmann1 ,barrs1 ,bourget1 ,lematre40 8,france60 asserted ,turnbull with a sort of rollicking self-exaggeration1 very unusual with him1 8,france1 which is one torrent of splendid scepticism from ,abelard to ,anatole ,france40 8,france10 said ,mac,ian1 8which is one cataract of clear faith from ,st4 ,louis to ,our ,lady of ,lourdes40 8,france at least10 cried ,turnbull1 throwing up his sword in schoolboy triumph1 8in which these things are thought about and fought about4 ,france1 where reason and religion clash in one continual tournament4 ,france1 above all1 where men understand the pride and passion which have plucked our blades from their scabbards4 ,here1 at least1 we shall not be chased and spied on by sickly parsons and greasy policemen1 because we wish to put our lives on the game4 ,courage1 my friend1 we have come to the country of honour40 ,mac,ian did not even notice the incongruous phrase 8my friend01 but nodding again and again1 drew his sword and flung the scabbard far behind him in the road4 8,yes10 he cried1 in a voice of thunder1 8we will fight here and ,he shall look on at it40 ,turnbull glanced at the crucifix with a sort of scowling good-humour and then said3 8,he may look and see ,his cross defeated40 8,the cross cannot be defeated10 said ,mac,ian1 8for it is ,defeat40 ,a second afterwards the two bright1 blood-thirsty weapons made the sign of the cross in horrible parody upon each other4 ,they had not touched each other twice1 however1 when upon the hill1 above the crucifix1 there appeared another horrible parody of its shape2 the figure of a man who appeared for an instant waving his outspread arms4 ,he had vanished in an instant2 but ,mac,ian1 whose fighting face was set that way1 had seen the shape momentarily but quite photographically4 ,and while it was like a comic repetition of the cross1 it was also1 in that place and hour1 something more incredible4 ,it had been only instantaneously on the retina of his eye2 but unless his eye and mind were going mad together1 the figure was that of an ordinary ,london policeman4 ,he tried to concentrate his senses on the sword-play2 but one half of his brain was wrestling with the puzzle2 the apocalyptic and almost seraphic apparition of a stout constable out of ,clapham on top of a dreary and deserted hill in ,france4 ,he did not1 however1 have to puzzle long4 ,before the duellists had exchanged half a dozen passes1 the big1 blue policeman appeared once more on the top of the hill1 a palpable monstrosity in the eye of heaven4 ,he was waving only one arm now and seemed to be shouting directions4 ,at the same moment a mass of blue blocked the corner of the road behind the small1 smart figure of ,turnbull1 and a small company of policemen in the ,english uniform came up at a kind of half-military double4 ,turnbull saw the stare of consternation in his enemy's face and swung round to share its cause4 ,when he saw it1 cool as he was1 he staggered back4 8,what the devil are you doing here80 he called out in a high1 shrill voice of authority1 like one who finds a tramp in his own larder4 8,well1 sir10 said the sergeant in command1 with that sort of heavy civility shown only to the evidently guilty1 8seems to me we might ask what are you doing here80 8,we are having an affair of honour10 said ,turnbull1 as if it were the most rational thing in the world4 8,if the ,french police like to interfere1 let them interfere4 ,but why the blue blazes should you interfere1 you great blue blundering sausages80 8,i'm afraid1 sir10 said the sergeant with restraint1 8,i'm afraid ,i don't quite follow you40 8,i mean1 why don't the ,french police take this up if it's got to be taken up8 ,i always heard that they were spry enough in their own way40 8,well1 sir10 said the sergeant reflectively1 8you see1 sir1 the ,french police don't take this up--well1 because you see1 sir1 this ain't ,france4 ,this is ,his ,majesty's dominions1 same as ',ampstead 'eath40 8,not ,france80 repeated ,turnbull1 with a sort of dull incredulity4 8,no1 sir10 said the sergeant2 8though most of the people talk ,french4 ,this is the island called ,st4 ,loup1 sir1 an island in the ,channel4 ,we've been sent down specially from ,london1 as you were such specially distinguished criminals1 if you'll allow me to say so4 ,which reminds me to warn you that anything you say may be used against you at your trial40 8,quite so10 said ,turnbull1 and lurched suddenly against the sergeant1 so as to tip him over the edge of the road with a crash into the shingle below4 ,then leaving ,mac,ian and the policemen equally and instantaneously nailed to the road1 he ran a little way along it1 leapt off on to a part of the beach1 which he had found in his journey to be firmer1 and went across it with a clatter of pebbles4 ,his sudden calculation was successful2 the police1 unacquainted with the various levels of the loose beach1 tried to overtake him by the shorter cut and found themselves1 being heavy men1 almost up to their knees in shoals of slippery shingle4 ,two who had been slower with their bodies were quicker with their minds1 and seeing ,turnbull's trick1 ran along the edge of the road after him4 ,then ,mac,ian finally awoke1 and leaving half his sleeve in the grip of the only man who tried to hold him1 took the two policemen in the small of their backs with the impetus of a cannon-ball and1 sending them also flat among the stones1 went tearing after his twin defier of the law4 ,as they were both good runners1 the start they had gained was decisive4 ,they dropped over a high breakwater farther on upon the beach1 turned sharply1 and scrambled up a line of ribbed rocks1 crowned with a thicket1 crawled through it1 scratching their hands and faces1 and dropped into another road2 and there found that they could slacken their speed into a steady trot4 ,in all this desperate dart and scramble1 they still kept hold of their drawn swords1 which now1 indeed1 in the vigorous phrase of ,bunyan1 seemed almost to grow out of their hands4 ,they had run another half mile or so when it became apparent that they were entering a sort of scattered village4 ,one or two whitewashed cottages and even a shop had appeared along the side of the road4 ,then1 for the first time1 ,turnbull twisted round his red bear to get a glimpse of his companion1 who was a foot or two behind1 and remarked abruptly3 8,mr4 ,mac,ian1 we've been going the wrong way to work all along4 ,we're traced everywhere1 because everybody knows about us4 ,it's as if one went about with ,kruger's beard on ,mafeking ,night40 8,what do you mean80 said ,mac,ian1 innocently4 8,i mean10 said ,turnbull1 with steady conviction1 8that what we want is a little diplomacy1 and ,i am going to buy some in a shop40 ,,xi4 ,a ,,scandal ,,in ,,the ,,village ,in the little hamlet of ,haroc1 in the ,isle of ,st4 ,loup1 there lived a man who--though living under the ,english flag--was absolutely untypical of the ,french tradition4 ,he was quite unnoticeable1 but that was exactly where he was quite himself4 ,he was not even extraordinarily ,french2 but then it is against the ,french tradition to be extraordinarily ,french4 ,ordinary ,englishmen would only have thought him a little old-fashioned2 imperialistic ,englishmen would really have mistaken him for the old ,john ,bull of the caricatures4 ,he was stout2 he was quite undistinguished2 and he had side-whiskers1 worn just a little longer than ,john ,bull's4 ,he was by name ,pierre ,durand2 he was by trade a wine merchant2 he was by politics a conservative republican2 he had been brought up a ,catholic1 had always thought and acted as an agnostic1 and was very mildly returning to the ,church in his later years4 ,he had a genius 7if one can even use so wild a word in connexion with so tame a person7 a genius for saying the conventional thing on every conceivable subject2 or rather what we in ,england would call the conventional thing4 ,for it was not convention with him1 but solid and manly conviction4 ,convention implies cant or affectation1 and he had not the faintest smell of either4 ,he was simply an ordinary citizen with ordinary views2 and if you had told him so he would have taken it as an ordinary compliment4 ,if you had asked him about women1 he would have said that one must preserve their domesticity and decorum2 he would have used the stalest words1 but he would have in reserve the strongest arguments4 ,if you had asked him about government1 he would have said that all citizens were free and equal1 but he would have meant what he said4 ,if you had asked him about education1 he would have said that the young must be trained up in habits of industry and of respect for their parents4 ,still he would have set them the example of industry1 and he would have been one of the parents whom they could respect4 ,a state of mind so hopelessly central is depressing to the ,english instinct4 ,but then in ,england a man announcing these platitudes is generally a fool and a frightened fool1 announcing them out of mere social servility4 ,but ,durand was anything but a fool2 he had read all the eighteenth century1 and could have defended his platitudes round every angle of eighteenth-century argument4 ,and certainly he was anything but a coward3 swollen and sedentary as he was1 he could have hit any man back who touched him with the instant violence of an automatic machine2 and dying in a uniform would have seemed to him only the sort of thing that sometimes happens4 ,i am afraid it is impossible to explain this monster amid the exaggerative sects and the eccentric clubs of my country4 ,he was merely a man4 ,he lived in a little villa which was furnished well with comfortable chairs and tables and highly uncomfortable classical pictures and medallions4 ,the art in his home contained nothing between the two extremes of hard1 meagre designs of ,greek heads and ,roman togas1 and on the other side a few very vulgar ,catholic images in the crudest colours2 these were mostly in his daughter's room4 ,he had recently lost his wife1 whom he had loved heartily and rather heavily in complete silence1 and upon whose grave he was constantly in the habit of placing hideous little wreaths1 made out of a sort of black-and-white beads4 ,to his only daughter he was equally devoted1 though he restricted her a good deal under a sort of theoretic alarm about her innocence2 an alarm which was peculiarly unnecessary1 first1 because she was an exceptionally reticent and religious girl1 and secondly1 because there was hardly anybody else in the place4 ,madeleine ,durand was physically a sleepy young woman1 and might easily have been supposed to be morally a lazy one4 ,it is1 however1 certain that the work of her house was done somehow1 and it is even more rapidly ascertainable that nobody else did it4 ,the logician is1 therefore1 driven back upon the assumption that she did it2 and that lends a sort of mysterious interest to her personality at the beginning4 ,she had very broad1 low1 and level brows1 which seemed even lower because her warm yellow hair clustered down to her eyebrows2 and she had a face just plump enough not to look as powerful as it was4 ,anything that was heavy in all this was abruptly lightened by two large1 light china-blue eyes1 lightened all of a sudden as if it had been lifted into the air by two big blue butterflies4 ,the rest of her was less than middle-sized1 and was of a casual and comfortable sort2 and she had this difference from such girls as the girl in the motor-car1 that one did not incline to take in her figure at all1 but only her broad and leonine and innocent head4 ,both the father and the daughter were of the sort that would normally have avoided all observation2 that is1 all observation in that extraordinary modern world which calls out everything except strength4 ,both of them had strength below the surface2 they were like quiet peasants owning enormous and unquarried mines4 ,the father with his square face and grey side whiskers1 the daughter with her square face and golden fringe of hair1 were both stronger than they know2 stronger than anyone knew4 ,the father believed in civilization1 in the storied tower we have erected to affront nature2 that is1 the father believed in ,man4 ,the daughter believed in ,god2 and was even stronger4 ,they neither of them believed in themselves2 for that is a decadent weakness4 ,the daughter was called a devotee4 ,she left upon ordinary people the impression--the somewhat irritating impression--produced by such a person2 it can only be described as the sense of strong water being perpetually poured into some abyss4 ,she did her housework easily2 she achieved her social relations sweetly2 she was never neglectful and never unkind4 ,this accounted for all that was soft in her1 but not for all that was hard4 ,she trod firmly as if going somewhere2 she flung her face back as if defying something2 she hardly spoke a cross word1 yet there was often battle in her eyes4 ,the modern man asked doubtfully where all this silent energy went to4 ,he would have stared still more doubtfully if he had been told that it all went into her prayers4 ,the conventions of the ,isle of ,st4 ,loup were necessarily a compromise or confusion between those of ,france and ,england2 and it was vaguely possible for a respectable young lady to have half-attached lovers1 in a way that would be impossible to the bourgeoisie of ,france4 ,one man in particular had made himself an unmistakable figure in the track of this girl as she went to church4 ,he was a short1 prosperous-looking man1 whose long1 bushy black beard and clumsy black umbrella made him seem both shorter and older than he really was2 but whose big1 bold eyes1 and step that spurned the ground1 gave him an instant character of youth4 ,his name was ,camille ,bert1 and he was a commercial traveller who had only been in the island an idle week before he began to hover in the tracks of ,madeleine ,durand4 ,since everyone knows everyone in so small a place1 ,madeleine certainly knew him to speak to2 but it is not very evident that she ever spoke4 ,he haunted her1 however2 especially at church1 which was1 indeed1 one of the few certain places for finding her4 ,in her home she had a habit of being invisible1 sometimes through insatiable domesticity1 sometimes through an equally insatiable solitude4 ,m4 ,bert did not give the impression of a pious man1 though he did give1 especially with his eyes1 the impression of an honest one4 ,but he went to ,mass with a simple exactitude that could not be mistaken for a pose1 or even for a vulgar fascination4 ,it was perhaps this religious regularity which eventually drew ,madeleine into recognition of him4 ,at least it is certain that she twice spoke to him with her square and open smile in the porch of the church2 and there was human nature enough in the hamlet to turn even that into gossip4 ,but the real interest arose suddenly as a squall arises with the extraordinary affair that occurred about five days after4 ,there was about a third of a mile beyond the village of ,haroc a large but lonely hotel upon the ,london or ,paris model1 but commonly almost entirely empty4 ,among the accidental group of guests who had come to it at this season was a man whose nationality no one could fix and who bore the non-committal name of ,count ,gregory4 ,he treated everybody with complete civility and almost in complete silence4 ,on the few occasions when he spoke1 he spoke either ,french1 ,english1 or once 7to the priest7 ,latin2 and the general opinion was that he spoke them all wrong4 ,he was a large1 lean man1 with the stoop of an aged eagle1 and even the eagle's nose to complete it2 he had old-fashioned military whiskers and moustache dyed with a garish and highly incredible yellow4 ,he had the dress of a showy gentleman and the manners of a decayed gentleman2 he seemed 7as with a sort of simplicity7 to be trying to be a dandy when he was too old even to know that he was old4 ,ye he was decidedly a handsome figure with his curled yellow hair and lean fastidious face2 and he wore a peculiar frock-coat of bright turquoise blue1 with an unknown order pinned to it1 and he carried a huge and heavy cane4 ,despite his silence and his dandified dress and whiskers1 the island might never have heard of him but for the extraordinary event of which ,i have spoken1 which fell about in the following way3 ,in such casual atmospheres only the enthusiastic go to ,benediction2 and as the warm blue twilight closed over the little candle-lit church and village1 the line of worshippers who went home from the former to the latter thinned out until it broke4 ,on one such evening at least no one was in church except the quiet1 unconquerable ,madeleine1 four old women1 one fisherman1 and1 of course1 the irrepressible ,m4 ,camille ,bert4 ,the others seemed to melt away afterwards into the peacock colours of the dim green grass and the dark blue sky4 ,even ,durand was invisible instead of being merely reverentially remote2 and ,madeleine set forth through the patch of black forest alone4 ,she was not in the least afraid of loneliness1 because she was not afraid of devils4 ,i think they were afraid of her4 ,in a clearing of the wood1 however1 which was lit up with a last patch of the perishing sunlight1 there advanced upon her suddenly one who was more startling than a devil4 ,the incomprehensible ,count ,gregory1 with his yellow hair like flame and his face like the white ashes of the flame1 was advancing bareheaded towards her1 flinging out his arms and his long fingers with a frantic gesture4 8,we are alone here10 he cried1 8and you would be at my mercy1 only that ,i am at yours40 ,then his frantic hands fell by his sides and he looked up under his brows with an expression that went well with his hard breathing4 ,madeleine ,durand had come to a halt at first in childish wonder1 and now1 with more than masculine self-control1 8,i fancy ,i know your face1 sir10 she said1 as if to gain time4 8,i know ,i shall not forget yours10 said the other1 and extended once more his ungainly arms in an unnatural gesture4 ,then of a sudden there came out of him a spout of wild and yet pompous phrases4 8,it is as well that you should know the worst and the best4 ,i am a man who knows no limit2 ,i am the most callous of criminals1 the most unrepentant of sinners4 ,there is no man in my dominions so vile as ,i4 ,but my dominions stretch from the olives of ,italy to the fir-woods of ,denmark1 and there is no nook of all of them in which ,i have not done a sin4 ,but when ,i bear you away ,i shall be doing my first sacrilege1 and also my first act of virtue40 ,he seized her suddenly by the elbow2 and she did not scream but only pulled and tugged4 ,yet though she had not screamed1 someone astray in the woods seemed to have heard the struggle4 ,a short but nimble figure came along the woodland path like a humming bullet and had caught ,count ,gregory a crack across the face before his own could be recognized4 ,when it was recognized it was that of ,camille1 with the black elderly beard and the young ardent eyes4 ,up to the moment when ,camille had hit the ,count1 ,madeleine had entertained no doubt that the ,count was merely a madman4 ,now she was startled with a new sanity2 for the tall man in the yellow whiskers and yellow moustache first returned the blow of ,bert1 as if it were a sort of duty1 and then stepped back with a slight bow and an easy smile4 8,this need go no further here1 ,m4 ,bert10 he said4 8,i need not remind you how far it should go elsewhere40 8,certainly1 you need remind me of nothing10 answered ,camille1 stolidly4 8,i am glad that you are just not too much of a scoundrel for a gentleman to fight40 8,we are detaining the lady10 said ,count ,gregory1 with politeness2 and1 making a gesture suggesting that he would have taken off his hat if he had had one1 he strode away up the avenue of trees and eventually disappeared4 ,he was so complete an aristocrat that he could offer his back to them all the way up that avenue2 and his back never once looked uncomfortable4 8,you must allow me to see you home10 said ,bert to the girl1 in a gruff and almost stifled voice2 8,i think we have only a little way to go40 8,only a little way10 she said1 and smiled once more that night1 in spite of fatigue and fear and the world and the flesh and the devil4 ,the glowing and transparent blue of twilight had long been covered by the opaque and slatelike blue of night1 when he handed her into the lamp-lit interior of her home4 ,he went out himself into the darkness1 walking sturdily1 but tearing at his black beard4 ,all the ,french or semi-,french gentry of the district considered this a case in which a duel was natural and inevitable1 and neither party had any difficulty in finding seconds1 strangers as they were in the place4 ,two small landowners1 who were careful1 practising ,catholics1 willingly undertook to represent that strict church-goer ,camille ,burt2 while the profligate but apparently powerful ,count ,gregory found friends in an energetic local doctor who was ready for social promotion and an accidental ,californian tourist who was ready for anything4 ,as no particular purpose could be served by delay1 it was arranged that the affair should fall out three days afterwards4 ,and when this was settled the whole community1 as it were1 turned over again in bed and thought no more about the matter4 ,at least there was only one member of it who seemed to be restless1 and that was she who was commonly most restful4 ,on the next night ,madeleine ,durand went to church as usual2 and as usual the stricken ,camille was there also4 ,what was not so usual was that when they were a bow-shot from the church ,madeleine turned round and walked back to him4 8,sir10 she began1 8it is not wrong of me to speak to you10 and the very words gave him a jar of unexpected truth2 for in all the novels he had ever read she would have begun3 8,it is wrong of me to speak to you40 ,she went on with wide and serious eyes like an animal's3 8,it is not wrong of me to speak to you1 because your soul1 or anybody's soul1 matters so much more than what the world says about anybody4 ,i want to talk to you about what you are going to do40 ,bert saw in front of him the inevitable heroine of the novels trying to prevent bloodshed2 and his pale firm face became implacable4 8,i would do anything but that for you10 he said2 8but no man can be called less than a man40 ,she looked at him for a moment with a face openly puzzled1 and then broke into an odd and beautiful half-smile4 8,oh1 ,i don't mean that10 she said2 8,i don't talk about what ,i don't understand4 ,no one has ever hit me2 and if they had ,i should not feel as a man may4 ,i am sure it is not the best thing to fight4 ,it would be better to forgive--if one could really forgive4 ,but when people dine with my father and say that fighting a duel is mere murder--of course ,i can see that is not just4 ,it's all so different--having a reason--and letting the other man know--and using the same guns and things--and doing it in front of your friends4 ,i'm awfully stupid1 but ,i know that men like you aren't murderers4 ,but it wasn't that that ,i meant40 8,what did you mean80 asked the other1 looking broodingly at the earth4 8,don't you know10 she said1 8there is only one more celebration8 ,i thought that as you always go to church--,i thought you would communicate this morning40 ,bert stepped backward with a sort of action she had never seen in him before4 ,it seemed to alter his whole body4 8,you may be right or wrong to risk dying10 said the girl1 simply2 8the poor women in our village risk it whenever they have a baby4 ,you men are the other half of the world4 ,i know nothing about when you ought to die4 ,but surely if you are daring to try and find ,god beyond the grave and appeal to ,him--you ought to let ,him find you when ,he comes and stands there every morning in our little church40 ,and placid as she was1 she made a little gesture of argument1 of which the pathos wrung the heart4 ,m4 ,camille ,bert was by no means placid4 ,before that incomplete gesture and frankly pleading face he retreated as if from the jaws of a dragon4 ,his dark black hair and beard looked utterly unnatural against the startling pallor of his face4 ,when at last he said something it was3 8,o ,god6 ,i can't stand this60 ,he did not say it in ,french4 ,nor did he1 strictly speaking1 say it in ,english4 ,the truth 7interesting only to anthropologists7 is that he said it in ,scotch4 8,there will be another mass in a matter of eight hours10 said ,madeleine1 with a sort of business eagerness and energy1 8and you can do it then before the fighting4 ,you must forgive me1 but ,i was so frightened that you would not do it at all40 ,bert seemed to crush his teeth together until they broke1 and managed to say between them3 8,and why should you suppose that ,i shouldn't do as you say--,i mean not to do it at all80 8,you always go to ,mass10 answered the girl1 opening her wide blue eyes1 8and the ,mass is very long and tiresome unless one loves ,god40 ,then it was that ,bert exploded with a brutality which might have come from ,count ,gregory1 his criminal opponent4 ,he advanced upon ,madeleine with flaming eyes1 and almost took her by the two shoulders4 8,i do not love ,god10 he cried1 speaking ,french with the broadest ,scotch accent2 8,i do not want to find ,him2 ,i do not think ,he is there to be found4 ,i must burst up the show2 ,i must and will say everything4 ,you are the happiest and honestest thing ,i ever saw in this godless universe4 ,and ,i am the dirtiest and most dishonest40 ,madeleine looked at him doubtfully for an instant1 and then said with a sudden simplicity and cheerfulness3 8,oh1 but if you are really sorry it is all right4 ,if you are horribly sorry it is all the better4 ,you have only to go and tell the priest so and he will give you ,god out of his own hands40 8,i hate your priest and ,i deny your ,god60 cried the man1 8and ,i tell you ,god is a lie and a fable and a mask4 ,and for the first time in my life ,i do not feel superior to ,god40 8,what can it all mean80 said ,madeleine1 in massive wonder4 8,because ,i am a fable also and a mask10 said the man4 ,he had been plucking fiercely at his black beard and hair all the time2 now he suddenly plucked them off and flung them like moulted feathers in the mire4 ,this extraordinary spoliation left in the sunlight the same face1 but a much younger head--a head with close chestnut curls and a short chestnut beard4 8,now you know the truth10 he answered1 with hard eyes4 8,i am a cad who has played a crooked trick on a quiet village and a decent woman for a private reason of his own4 ,i might have played it successfully on any other woman2 ,i have hit the one woman on whom it cannot be played4 ,it's just like my damned luck4 ,the plain truth is10 and here when he came to the plain truth he boggled and blundered as ,evan had done in telling it to the girl in the motor-car4 8,the plain truth is10 he said at last1 8that ,i am ,james ,turnbull the atheist4 ,the police are after me2 not for atheism but for being ready to fight for it40 8,i saw something about you in a newspaper10 said the girl1 with a simplicity which even surprise could never throw off its balance4 8,evan ,mac,ian said there was a ,god10 went on the other1 stubbornly1 8and ,i say there isn't4 ,and ,i have come to fight for the fact that there is no ,god2 it is for that that ,i have seen this cursed island and your blessed face40 8,you want me really to believe10 said ,madeleine1 with parted lips1 8that you think----0 8,i want you to hate me60 cried ,turnbull1 in agony4 8,i want you to be sick when you think of my name4 ,i am sure there is no ,god40 8,but there is10 said ,madeleine1 quite quietly1 and rather with the air of one telling children about an elephant4 8,why1 ,i touched ,his body only this morning40 8,you touched a bit of bread10 said ,turnbull1 biting his knuckles4 8,oh1 ,i will say anything that can madden you60 8,you think it is only a bit of bread10 said the girl1 and her lips tightened ever so little4 8,i know it is only a bit of bread10 said ,turnbull1 with violence4 ,she flung back her open face and smiled4 8,then why did you refuse to eat it80 she said4 ,james ,turnbull made a little step backward1 and for the first time in his life there seemed to break out and blaze in his head thoughts that were not his own4 8,why1 how silly of them10 cried out ,madeleine1 with quite a schoolgirl gaiety1 8why1 how silly of them to call you a blasphemer6 ,why1 you have wrecked your whole business because you would not commit blasphemy40 ,the man stood1 a somewhat comic figure in his tragic bewilderment1 with the honest red head of ,james ,turnbull sticking out of the rich and fictitious garments of ,camille ,bert4 ,but the startled pain of his face was strong enough to obliterate the oddity4 8,you come down here10 continued the lady1 with that female emphasis which is so pulverizing in conversation and so feeble at a public meeting1 8you and your ,mac,ian come down here and put on false beards or noses in order to fight4 ,you pretend to be a ,catholic commercial traveller from ,france4 ,poor ,mr4 ,mac,ian has to pretend to be a dissolute nobleman from nowhere4 ,your scheme succeeds2 you pick a quite convincing quarrel2 you arrange a quite respectable duel2 the duel you have planned so long will come off tomorrow with absolute certainty and safety4 ,and then you throw off your wig and throw up your scheme and throw over your colleague1 because ,i ask you to go into a building and eat a bit of bread4 ,and then you dare to tell me that you are sure there is nothing watching us4 ,then you say you know there is nothing on the very altar you run away from4 ,you know----0 8,i only know10 said ,turnbull1 8that ,i must run away from you4 ,this has got beyond any talking40 ,and he plunged along into the village1 leaving his black wig and beard lying behind him on the road4 ,as the market-place opened before him he saw ,count ,gregory1 that distinguished foreigner1 standing and smoking in elegant meditation at the corner of the local caf4 ,he immediately made his way rapidly towards him1 considering that a consultation was urgent4 ,but he had hardly crossed half of that stony quadrangle when a window burst open above him and a head was thrust out1 shouting4 ,the man was in his woollen undershirt1 but ,turnbull knew the energetic1 apologetic head of the sergeant of police4 ,he pointed furiously at ,turnbull and shouted his name4 ,a policeman ran excitedly from under an archway and tried to collar him4 ,two men selling vegetables dropped their baskets and joined in the chase4 ,turnbull dodged the constable1 upset one of the men into his own basket1 and bounding towards the distinguished foreign ,count1 called to him clamorously3 8,come on1 ,mac,ian1 the hunt is up again40 ,the prompt reply of ,count ,gregory was to pull off his large yellow whiskers and scatter them on the breeze with an air of considerable relief4 ,then he joined the flight of ,turnbull1 and even as he did so1 with one wrench of his powerful hands rent and split the strange1 thick stick that he carried4 ,inside it was a naked old-fashioned rapier4 ,the two got a good start up the road before the whole town was awakened behind them2 and half-way up it a similar transformation was seen to take place in ,mr4 ,turnbull's singular umbrella4 ,the two had a long race for the harbour2 but the ,english police were heavy and the ,french inhabitants were indifferent4 ,in any case1 they got used to the notion of the road being clear2 and just as they had come to the cliffs ,mac,ian banged into another gentleman with unmistakable surprise4 ,how he knew he was another gentleman merely by banging into him1 must remain a mystery4 ,mac,ian was a very poor and very sober ,scotch gentleman4 ,the other was a very drunk and very wealthy ,english gentleman4 ,but there was something in the staggered and openly embarrassed apologies that made them understand each other as readily and as quickly and as much as two men talking ,french in the middle of ,china4 ,the nearest expression of the type is that it either hits or apologizes2 and in this case both apologized4 8,you seem to be in a hurry10 said the unknown ,englishman1 falling back a step or two in order to laugh with an unnatural heartiness4 8,what's it all about1 eh80 ,then before ,mac,ian could get past his sprawling and staggering figure he ran forward again and said with a sort of shouting and ear-shattering whisper3 8,i say1 my name is ,wilkinson4 ,you know--,wilkinson's ,entire was my grandfather4 ,can't drink beer myself4 ,liver40 ,and he shook his head with extraordinary sagacity4 8,we really are in a hurry1 as you say10 said ,mac,ian1 summoning a sufficiently pleasant smile1 8so if you will let us pass----0 8,i'll tell you what1 you fellows10 said the sprawling gentleman1 confidentially1 while ,evan's agonized ears heard behind him the first paces of the pursuit1 8if you really are1 as you say1 in a hurry1 ,i know what it is to be in a hurry--,lord1 what a hurry ,i was in when we all came out of ,cartwright's rooms--if you really are in a hurry0--and he seemed to steady his voice into a sort of solemnity--8if you are in a hurry1 there's nothing like a good yacht for a man in a hurry40 8,no doubt you're right10 said ,mac,ian1 and dashed past him in despair4 ,the head of the pursuing host was just showing over the top of the hill behind him4 ,turnbull had already ducked under the intoxicated gentleman's elbow and fled far in front4 8,no1 but look here10 said ,mr4 ,wilkinson1 enthusiastically running after ,mac,ian and catching him by the sleeve of his coat4 8,if you want to hurry you should take a yacht1 and if0--he said1 with a burst of rationality1 like one leaping to a further point in logic--8if you want a yacht--you can have mine40 ,evan pulled up abruptly and looked back at him4 8,we are really in the devil of a hurry10 he said1 8and if you really have a yacht1 the truth is that we would give our ears for it40 8,you'll find it in harbour10 said ,wilkinson1 struggling with his speech4 8,left side of harbour--called ,gibson ,girl--can't think why1 old fellow1 ,i never lent it you before40 ,with these words the benevolent ,mr4 ,wilkinson fell flat on his face in the road1 but continued to laugh softly1 and turned towards his flying companion a face of peculiar peace and benignity4 ,evan's mind went through a crisis of instantaneous casuistry1 in which it may be that he decided wrongly2 but about how he decided his biographer can profess no doubt4 ,two minutes afterwards he had overtaken ,turnbull and told the tale2 ten minutes afterwards he and ,turnbull had somehow tumbled into the yacht called the ,gibson ,girl and had somehow pushed off from the ,isle of ,st4 ,loup4 ,,xii4 ,,the ,,desert ,,island ,those who happen to hold the view 7and ,mr4 ,evan ,mac,ian1 now alive and comfortable1 is among the number7 that something supernatural1 some eccentric kindness from god or fairy had guided our adventurers through all their absurd perils1 might have found his strongest argument perhaps in their management or mismanagement of ,mr4 ,wilkinson's yacht4 ,neither of them had the smallest qualification for managing such a vessel2 but ,mac,ian had a practical knowledge of the sea in much smaller and quite different boats1 while ,turnbull had an abstract knowledge of science and some of its applications to navigation1 which was worse4 ,the presence of the god or fairy can only be deduced from the fact that they never definitely ran into anything1 either a boat1 a rock1 a quicksand1 or a man-of-war4 ,apart from this negative description1 their voyage would be difficult to describe4 ,it took at least a fortnight1 and ,mac,ian1 who was certainly the shrewder sailor of the two1 realized that they were sailing west into the ,atlantic and were probably by this time past the ,scilly ,isles4 ,how much farther they stood out into the western sea it was impossible to conjecture4 ,but they felt certain1 at least1 that they were far enough into that awful gulf between us and ,america to make it unlikely that they would soon see land again4 ,it was therefore with legitimate excitement that one rainy morning after daybreak they saw that distinct shape of a solitary island standing up against the encircling strip of silver which ran round the skyline and separated the grey and green of the billows from the grey and mauve of the morning clouds4 8,what can it be80 cried ,mac,ian1 in a dry-throated excitement4 8,i didn't know there were any ,atlantic islands so far beyond the ,scillies--,good ,lord1 it can't be ,madeira1 yet80 8,i thought you were fond of legends and lies and fables10 said ,turnbull1 grimly4 8,perhaps it's ,atlantis40 8,of course1 it might be10 answered the other1 quite innocently and gravely2 8but ,i never thought the story about ,atlantis was very solidly established40 8,whatever it is1 we are running on to it10 said ,turnbull1 equably1 8and we shall be shipwrecked twice1 at any rate40 ,the naked-looking nose of land projecting from the unknown island was1 indeed1 growing larger and larger1 like the trunk of some terrible and advancing elephant4 ,there seemed to be nothing in particular1 at least on this side of the island1 except shoals of shellfish lying so thick as almost to make it look like one of those toy grottos that the children make4 ,in one place1 however1 the coast offered a soft1 smooth bay of sand1 and even the rudimentary ingenuity of the two amateur mariners managed to run up the little ship with her prow well on shore and her bowsprit pointing upward1 as in a sort of idiotic triumph4 ,they tumbled on shore and began to unload the vessel1 setting the stores out in rows upon the sand with something of the solemnity of boys playing at pirates4 ,there were ,mr4 ,wilkinson's cigar-boxes and ,mr4 ,wilkinson's dozen of champagne and ,mr4 ,wilkinson's tinned salmon and ,mr4 ,wilkinson's tinned tongue and ,mr4 ,wilkinson's tinned sardines1 and every sort of preserved thing that could be seen at the ,army and ,navy stores4 ,then ,mac,ian stopped with a jar of pickles in his hand and said abruptly3 8,i don't know why we're doing all this2 ,i suppose we ought really to fall to and get it over40 ,then he added more thoughtfully3 8,of course this island seems rather bare and the survivor----0 8,the question is10 said ,turnbull1 with cheerful speculation1 8whether the survivor will be in a proper frame of mind for potted prawns40 ,mac,ian looked down at the rows of tins and bottles1 and the cloud of doubt still lowered upon his face4 8,you will permit me two liberties1 my dear sir10 said ,turnbull at last3 8,the first is to break open this box and light one of ,mr4 ,wilkinson's excellent cigars1 which will1 ,i am sure1 assist my meditations2 the second is to offer a penny for your thoughts2 or rather to convulse the already complex finances of this island by betting a penny that ,i know them40 8,what on earth are you talking about80 asked ,mac,ian1 listlessly1 in the manner of an inattentive child4 8,i know what you are really thinking1 ,mac,ian10 repeated ,turnbull1 laughing4 8,i know what ,i am thinking1 anyhow4 ,and ,i rather fancy it's the same40 8,what are you thinking80 asked ,evan4 8,i am thinking and you are thinking10 said ,turnbull1 8that it is damned silly to waste all that champagne40 ,something like the spectre of a smile appeared on the unsmiling visage of the ,gael2 and he made at least no movement of dissent4 8,we could drink all the wine and smoke all the cigars easily in a week10 said ,turnbull2 8and that would be to die feasting like heroes40 8,yes1 and there is something else10 said ,mac,ian1 with slight hesitation4 8,you see1 we are on an almost unknown rock1 lost in the ,atlantic4 ,the police will never catch us2 but then neither may the public ever hear of us2 and that was one of the things we wanted40 ,then1 after a pause1 he said1 drawing in the sand with his sword-point3 8,she may never hear of it at all40 8,well80 inquired the other1 puffing at his cigar4 8,well10 said ,mac,ian1 8we might occupy a day or two in drawing up a thorough and complete statement of what we did and why we did it1 and all about both our points of view4 ,then we could leave one copy on the island whatever happens to us and put another in an empty bottle and send it out to sea1 as they do in the books40 8,a good idea10 said ,turnbull1 8and now let us finish unpacking40 ,as ,mac,ian1 a tall1 almost ghostly figure1 paced along the edge of sand that ran round the islet1 the purple but cloudy poetry which was his native element was piled up at its thickest upon his soul4 ,the unique island and the endless sea emphasized the thing solely as an epic4 ,there were no ladies or policemen here to give him a hint either of its farce or its tragedy4 8,perhaps when the morning stars were made10 he said to himself1 8,god built this island up from the bottom of the world to be a tower and a theatre for the fight between yea and nay40 ,then he wandered up to the highest level of the rock1 where there was a roof or plateau of level stone4 ,half an hour afterwards1 ,turnbull found him clearing away the loose sand from this table-land and making it smooth and even4 8,we will fight up here1 ,turnbull10 said ,mac,ian1 8when the time comes4 ,and till the time comes this place shall be sacred40 8,i thought of having lunch up here10 said ,turnbull1 who had a bottle of champagne in his hand4 8,no1 no--not up here10 said ,mac,ian1 and came down from the height quite hastily4 ,before he descended1 however1 he fixed the two swords upright1 one at each end of the platform1 as if they were human sentinels to guard it under the stars4 ,then they came down and lunched plentifully in a nest of loose rocks4 ,in the same place that night they supped more plentifully still4 ,the smoke of ,mr4 ,wilkinson's cigars went up ceaseless and strong smelling1 like a pagan sacrifice2 the golden glories of ,mr4 ,wilkinson's champagne rose to their heads and poured out of them in fancies and philosophies4 ,and occasionally they would look up at the starlight and the rock and see the space guarded by the two cross-hilted swords1 which looked like two black crosses at either end of a grave4 ,in this primitive and ,homeric truce the week passed by2 it consisted almost entirely of eating1 drinking1 smoking1 talking1 and occasionally singing4 ,they wrote their records and cast loose their bottle4 ,they never ascended to the ominous plateau2 they had never stood there save for that single embarrassed minute when they had had no time to take stock of the seascape or the shape of the land4 ,they did not even explore the island2 for ,mac,ian was partly concerned in prayer and ,turnbull entirely concerned with tobacco2 and both these forms of inspiration can be enjoyed by the secluded and even the sedentary4 ,it was on a golden afternoon1 the sun sinking over the sea1 rayed like the very head of ,apollo1 when ,turnbull tossed off the last half-pint from the emptied ,wilkinsonian bottle1 hurled the bottle into the sea with objectless energy1 and went up to where his sword stood waiting for him on the hill4 ,mac,ian was already standing heavily by his with bent head and eyes reading the ground4 ,he had not even troubled to throw a glance round the island or the horizon4 ,but ,turnbull being of a more active and birdlike type of mind did throw a glance round the scene4 ,the consequence of which was that he nearly fell off the rock4 ,on three sides of this shelly and sandy islet the sea stretched blue and infinite without a speck of land or sail2 the same as ,turnbull had first seen it1 except that the tide being out it showed a few yards more of slanting sand under the roots of the rocks4 ,but on the fourth side the island exhibited a more extraordinary feature4 ,in fact1 it exhibited the extraordinary feature of not being an island at all4 ,a long1 curving neck of sand1 as smooth and wet as the neck of the sea serpent1 ran out into the sea and joined their rock to a line of low1 billowing1 and glistening sand-hills1 which the sinking sea had just bared to the sun4 ,whether they were firm sand or quicksand it was difficult to guess2 but there was at least no doubt that they lay on the edge of some larger land2 for colourless hills appeared faintly behind them and no sea could be seen beyond4 8,sakes alive60 cried ,turnbull1 with rolling eyes2 8this ain't an island in the ,atlantic4 ,we've butted the bally continent of ,america40 ,mac,ian turned his head1 and his face1 already pale1 grew a shade paler4 ,he was by this time walking in a world of omens and hieroglyphics1 and he could not read anything but what was baffling or menacing in this brown gigantic arm of the earth stretched out into the sea to seize him4 8,mac,ian10 said ,turnbull1 in his temperate way1 8whatever our eternal interrupted tete-a-tetes have taught us or not taught us1 at least we need not fear the charge of fear4 ,if it is essential to your emotions1 ,i will cheerfully finish the fight here and now2 but ,i must confess that if you kill me here ,i shall die with my curiosity highly excited and unsatisfied upon a minor point of geography40 8,i do not want to stop now10 said the other1 in his elephantine simplicity1 8but we must stop for a moment1 because it is a sign--perhaps it is a miracle4 ,we must see what is at the end of the road of sand2 it may be a bridge built across the gulf by ,god40 8,so long as you gratify my query10 said ,turnbull1 laughing and letting back his blade into the sheath1 8,i do not care for what reason you choose to stop40 ,they clambered down the rocky peninsula and trudged along the sandy isthmus with the plodding resolution of men who seemed almost to have made up their minds to be wanderers on the face of the earth4 ,despite ,turnbull's air of scientific eagerness1 he was really the less impatient of the two2 and the ,highlander went on well ahead of him with passionate strides4 ,by the time they had walked for about half an hour in the ups and downs of those dreary sands1 the distance between the two had lengthened and ,mac,ian was only a tall figure silhouetted for an instant upon the crest of some sand-dune and then disappearing behind it4 ,this rather increased the ,robinson ,crusoe feeling in ,mr4 ,turnbull1 and he looked about almost disconsolately for some sign of life4 ,what sort of life he expected it to be if it appeared1 he did not very clearly know4 ,he has since confessed that he thinks that in his subconsciousness he expected an alligator4 ,the first sign of life that he did see1 however1 was something more extraordinary than the largest alligator4 ,it was nothing less than the notorious ,mr4 ,evan ,mac,ian coming bounding back across the sand-heaps breathless1 without his cap and keeping the sword in his hand only by a habit now quite hardened4 8,take care1 ,turnbull10 he cried out from a good distance as he ran1 8,i've seen a native40 8,a native80 repeated his companion1 whose scenery had of late been chiefly of shellfish1 8what the deuce6 ,do you mean an oyster80 8,no10 said ,mac,ian1 stopping and breathing hard1 8,i mean a savage4 ,a black man40 8,why1 where did you see him80 asked the staring editor4 8,over there--behind that hill10 said the gasping ,mac,ian4 8,he put up his black head and grinned at me40 ,turnbull thrust his hands through his red hair like one who gives up the world as a bad riddle4 8,lord love a duck10 said he1 8can it be ,jamaica80 ,then glancing at his companion with a small frown1 as of one slightly suspicious1 he said3 8,i say1 don't think me rude--but you're a visionary kind of fellow--and then we drank a great deal4 ,do you mind waiting here while ,i go and see for myself80 8,shout if you get into trouble10 said the ,celt1 with composure2 8you will find it as ,i say40 ,turnbull ran off ahead with a rapidity now far greater than his rival's1 and soon vanished over the disputed sand-hill4 ,then five minutes passed1 and then seven minutes2 and ,mac,ian bit his lip and swung his sword1 and the other did not reappear4 ,finally1 with a ,gaelic oath1 ,evan started forward to the rescue1 and almost at the same moment the small figure of the missing man appeared on the ridge against the sky4 ,even at that distance1 however1 there was something odd about his attitude2 so odd that ,mac,ian continued to make his way in that direction4 ,it looked as if he were wounded2 or1 still more1 as if he were ill4 ,he wavered as he came down the slope and seemed flinging himself into peculiar postures4 ,but it was only when he came within three feet of ,mac,ian's face1 that that observer of mankind fully realized that ,mr4 ,james ,turnbull was roaring with laughter4 8,you are quit right10 sobbed that wholly demoralized journalist4 8,he's black1 oh1 there's no doubt the black's all right--as far as it goes40 ,and he went off again into convulsions of his humorous ailment4 8,what ever is the matter with you80 asked ,mac,ian1 with stern impatience4 8,did you see the nigger----0 8,i saw the nigger10 gasped ,turnbull4 8,i saw the splendid barbarian ,chief4 ,i saw the ,emperor of ,ethiopia--oh1 ,i saw him all right4 ,the nigger's hands and face are a lovely colour--and the nigger----0 ,and he was overtaken once more4 8,well1 well1 well10 said ,evan1 stamping each monosyllable on the sand1 8what about the nigger80 8,well1 the truth is10 said ,turnbull1 suddenly and startlingly1 becoming quite grave and precise1 8the truth is1 the nigger is a ,margate nigger1 and we are now on the edge of the ,isle of ,thanet1 a few miles from ,margate40 ,then he had a momentary return of his hysteria and said3 8,i say1 old boy1 ,i should like to see a chart of our fortnight's cruise in ,wilkinson's yacht40 ,mac,ian had no smile in answer1 but his eager lips opened as if parched for the truth4 8,you mean to say10 he began---- 8,yes1 ,i mean to say10 said ,turnbull1 8and ,i mean to say something funnier still4 ,i have learnt everything ,i wanted to know from the partially black musician over there1 who has taken a run in his war-paint to meet a friend in a quiet pub along the coast--the noble savage has told me all about it4 ,the bottle containing our declaration1 doctrines1 and dying sentiments was washed up on ,margate beach yesterday in the presence of one alderman1 two bathing-machine men1 three policemen1 seven doctors1 and a hundred and thirteen ,london clerks on a holiday1 to all of whom1 whether directly or indirectly1 our composition gave enormous literary pleasure4 ,buck up1 old man1 this story of ours is a switchback4 ,i have begun to understand the pulse and the time of it2 now we are up in a cathedral and then we are down in a theatre1 where they only play farces4 ,come1 ,i am quite reconciled--let us enjoy the farce40 ,but ,mac,ian said nothing1 and an instant afterwards ,turnbull himself called out in an entirely changed voice3 8,oh1 this is damnable6 ,this is not to be borne60 ,mac,ian followed his eye along the sand-hills4 ,he saw what looked like the momentary and waving figure of the nigger minstrel1 and then he saw a heavy running policeman take the turn of the sand-hill with the smooth solemnity of a railway train4 ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,garden ,,of ,,peace ,up to this instant ,evan ,mac,ian had really understood nothing2 but when he saw the policeman he saw everything4 ,he saw his enemies1 all the powers and princes of the earth4 ,he suddenly altered from a staring statue to a leaping man of the mountains4 8,we must break away from him here10 he cried1 briefly1 and went like a whirlwind over the sand ridge in a straight line and at a particular angle4 ,when the policeman had finished his admirable railway curve1 he found a wall of failing sand between him and the pursued4 ,by the time he had scaled it thrice1 slid down twice1 and crested it in the third effort1 the two flying figures were far in front4 ,they found the sand harder farther on2 it began to be crusted with scraps of turf and in a few moments they were flying easily over an open common of rank sea-grass4 ,they had no easy business1 however2 for the bottle which they had so innocently sent into the chief gate of ,thanet had called to life the police of half a county on their trail4 ,from every side across the grey-green common figures could be seen running and closing in2 and it was only when ,mac,ian with his big body broke down the tangled barrier of a little wood1 as men break down a door with the shoulder2 it was only when they vanished crashing into the underworld of the black wood1 that their hunters were even instantaneously thrown off the scent4 ,at the risk of struggling a little longer like flies in that black web of twigs and trunks1 ,evan 7who had an instinct of the hunter or the hunted7 took an incalculable course through the forest1 which let them out at last by a forest opening--quite forgotten by the leaders of the chase4 ,they ran a mile or two farther along the edge of the wood until they reached another and somewhat similar opening4 ,then ,mac,ian stood utterly still and listened1 as animals listen1 for every sound in the universe4 ,then he said3 8,we are quit of them40 ,and ,turnbull said3 8,where shall we go now80 ,mac,ian looked at the silver sunset that was closing in1 barred by plumy lines of purple cloud2 he looked at the high tree-tops that caught the last light and at the birds going heavily homeward1 just as if all these things were bits of written advice that he could read4 ,then he said3 8,the best place we can go to is to bed4 ,if we can get some sleep in this wood1 now everyone has cleared out of it1 it will be worth a handicap of two hundred yards tomorrow40 ,turnbull1 who was exceptionally lively and laughing in his demeanour1 kicked his legs about like a schoolboy and said he did not want to go to sleep4 ,he walked incessantly and talked very brilliantly4 ,and when at last he lay down on the hard earth1 sleep struck him senseless like a hammer4 ,indeed1 he needed the strongest sleep he could get2 for the earth was still full of darkness and a kind of morning fog when his fellow-fugitive shook him awake4 8,no more sleep1 ,i'm afraid10 said ,evan1 in a heavy1 almost submissive1 voice of apology4 8,they've gone on past us right enough for a good thirty miles2 but now they've found out their mistake1 and they're coming back40 8,are you sure80 said ,turnbull1 sitting up and rubbing his red eyebrows with his hand4 ,the next moment1 however1 he had jumped up alive and leaping like a man struck with a shock of cold water1 and he was plunging after ,mac,ian along the woodland path4 ,the shape of their old friend the constable had appeared against the pearl and pink of the sunrise4 ,somehow1 it always looked a very funny shape when seen against the sunrise4 99 99 99 ,a wash of weary daylight was breaking over the country-side1 and the fields and roads were full of white mist--the kind of white mist that clings in corners like cotton wool4 ,the empty road1 along which the chase had taken its turn1 was overshadowed on one side by a very high discoloured wall1 stained1 and streaked green1 as with seaweed--evidently the high-shouldered sentinel of some great gentleman's estate4 ,a yard or two from the wall ran parallel to it a linked and tangled line of lime-trees1 forming a kind of cloister along the side of the road4 ,it was under this branching colonnade that the two fugitives fled1 almost concealed from their pursuers by the twilight1 the mist and the leaping zoetrope of shadows4 ,their feet1 though beating the ground furiously1 made but a faint noise2 for they had kicked away their boots in the wood2 their long1 antiquated weapons made no jingle or clatter1 for they had strapped them across their backs like guitars4 ,they had all the advantages that invisibility and silence can add to speed4 ,a hundred and fifty yards behind them down the centre of the empty road the first of their pursuers came pounding and panting--a fat but powerful policeman who had distanced all the rest4 ,he came on at a splendid pace for so portly a figure2 but1 like all heavy bodies in motion1 he gave the impression that it would be easier for him to increase his pace than to slacken it suddenly4 ,nothing short of a brick wall could have abruptly brought him up4 ,turnbull turned his head slightly and found breath to say something to ,mac,ian4 ,mac,ian nodded4 ,pursuer and pursued were fixed in their distance as they fled1 for some quarter of a mile1 when they came to a place where two or three of the trees grew twistedly together1 making a special obscurity4 ,past this place the pursuing policeman went thundering without thought or hesitation4 ,but he was pursuing his shadow or the wind2 for ,turnbull had put one foot in a crack of the tree and gone up it as quickly and softly as a cat4 ,somewhat more laboriously but in equal silence the long legs of the ,highlander had followed2 and crouching in crucial silence in the cloud of leaves1 they saw the whole posse of their pursuers go by and die into the dust and mists of the distance4 ,the white vapour lay1 as it often does1 in lean and palpable layers2 and even the head of the tree was above it in the half-daylight1 like a green ship swinging on a sea of foam4 ,but higher yet behind them1 and readier to catch the first coming of the sun1 ran the rampart of the top of the wall1 which in their excitement of escape looked at once indispensable and unattainable1 like the wall of heaven4 ,here1 however1 it was ,mac,ian's turn to have the advantage2 for1 though less light-limbed and feline1 he was longer and stronger in the arms4 ,in two seconds he had tugged up his chin over the wall like a horizontal bar2 the next he sat astride of it1 like a horse of stone4 ,with his assistance ,turnbull vaulted to the same perch1 and the two began cautiously to shift along the wall in the direction by which they had come1 doubling on their tracks to throw off the last pursuit4 ,mac,ian could not rid himself of the fancy of bestriding a steed2 the long1 grey coping of the wall shot out in front of him1 like the long1 grey neck of some nightmare ,rosinante4 ,he had the quaint thought that he and ,turnbull were two knights on one steed on the old shield of the ,templars4 ,the nightmare of the stone horse was increased by the white fog1 which seemed thicker inside the wall than outside4 ,they could make nothing of the enclosure upon which they were partial trespassers1 except that the green and crooked branches of a big apple-tree came crawling at them out of the mist1 like the tentacles of some green cuttlefish4 ,anything would serve1 however1 that was likely to confuse their trail1 so they both decided without need of words to use this tree also as a ladder--a ladder of descent4 ,when they dropped from the lowest branch to the ground their stockinged feet felt hard gravel beneath them4 ,they had alighted in the middle of a very broad garden path1 and the clearing mist permitted them to see the edge of a well-clipped lawn4 ,though the white vapour was still a veil1 it was like the gauzy veil of a transformation scene in a pantomime2 for through it there glowed shapeless masses of colour1 masses which might be clouds of sunrise or mosaics of gold and crimson1 or ladies robed in ruby and emerald draperies4 ,as it thinned yet farther they saw that it was only flowers2 but flowers in such insolent mass and magnificence as can seldom be seen out of the tropics4 ,purple and crimson rhododendrons rose arrogantly1 like rampant heraldic animals against their burning background of laburnum gold4 ,the roses were red hot2 the clematis was1 so to speak1 blue hot4 ,and yet the mere whiteness of the syringa seemed the most violent colour of all4 ,as the golden sunlight gradually conquered the mists1 it had really something of the sensational sweetness of the slow opening of the gates of ,eden4 ,mac,ian1 whose mind was always haunted with such seraphic or titanic parallels1 made some such remark to his companion4 ,but ,turnbull only cursed and said that it was the back garden of some damnable rich man4 ,when the last haze had faded from the ordered paths1 the open lawns1 and the flaming flower-beds1 the two realized1 not without an abrupt re-examination of their position1 that they were not alone in the garden4 ,down the centre of the central garden path1 preceded by a blue cloud from a cigarette1 was walking a gentleman who evidently understood all the relish of a garden in the very early morning4 ,he was a slim yet satisfied figure1 clad in a suit of pale-grey tweed1 so subdued that the pattern was imperceptible--a costume that was casual but not by any means careless4 ,his face1 which was reflective and somewhat over-refined1 was the face of a quite elderly man1 though his stringy hair and moustache were still quite yellow4 ,a double eye-glass1 with a broad1 black ribbon1 drooped from his aquiline nose1 and he smiled1 as he communed with himself1 with a self-content which was rare and almost irritating4 ,the straw panama on his head was many shades shabbier than his clothes1 as if he had caught it up by accident4 ,it needed the full shock of the huge shadow of ,mac,ian1 falling across his sunlit path1 to rouse him from his smiling reverie4 ,when this had fallen on him he lifted his head a little and blinked at the intruders with short-sighted benevolence1 but with far less surprise than might have been expected4 ,he was a gentleman2 that is1 he had social presence of mind1 whether for kindness or for insolence4 8,can ,i do anything for you80 he said1 at last4 ,mac,ian bowed4 8,you can extend to us your pardon10 he said1 for he also came of a whole race of gentlemen--of gentlemen without shirts to their backs4 8,i am afraid we are trespassing4 ,we have just come over the wall40 8,over the wall80 repeated the smiling old gentleman1 still without letting his surprise come uppermost4 8,i suppose ,i am not wrong1 sir10 continued ,mac,ian1 8in supposing that these grounds inside the wall belong to you80 ,the man in the panama looked at the ground and smoked thoughtfully for a few moments1 after which he said1 with a sort of matured conviction3 8,yes1 certainly2 the grounds inside the wall really belong to me1 and the grounds outside the wall1 too40 8,a large proprietor1 ,i imagine10 said ,turnbull1 with a truculent eye4 8,yes10 answered the old gentleman1 looking at him with a steady smile4 8,a large proprietor40 ,turnbull's eye grew even more offensive1 and he began biting his red beard2 but ,mac,ian seemed to recognize a type with which he could deal and continued quite easily3 8,i am sure that a man like you will not need to be told that one sees and does a good many things that do not get into the newspapers4 ,things which1 on the whole1 had better not get into the newspapers40 ,the smile of the large proprietor broadened for a moment under his loose1 light moustache1 and the other continued with increased confidence3 8,one sometimes wants to have it out with another man4 ,the police won't allow it in the streets--and then there's the ,county ,council--and in the fields even nothing's allowed but posters of pills4 ,but in a gentleman's garden1 now----0 ,the strange gentleman smiled again and said1 easily enough3 8,do you want to fight8 ,what do you want to fight about80 ,mac,ian had understood his man pretty well up to that point2 an instinct common to all men with the aristocratic tradition of ,europe had guided him4 ,he knew that the kind of man who in his own back garden wears good clothes and spoils them with a bad hat is not the kind of man who has an abstract horror of illegal actions of violence or the evasion of the police4 ,but a man may understand ragging and yet be very far from understanding religious ragging4 ,this seeming host of theirs might comprehend a quarrel of husband and lover or a difficulty at cards or even escape from a pursuing tailor2 but it still remained doubtful whether he would feel the earth fail under him in that earthquake instant when the ,virgin is compared to a goddess of ,mesopotamia4 ,even ,mac,ian1 therefore 7whose tact was far from being his strong point71 felt the necessity for some compromise in the mode of approach4 ,at last he said1 and even then with hesitation3 8,we are fighting about ,god2 there can be nothing so important as that40 ,the tilted eye-glasses of the old gentleman fell abruptly from his nose1 and he thrust his aristocratic chin so far forward that his lean neck seemed to shoot out longer like a telescope4 8,about ,god80 he queried1 in a key completely new4 8,look here60 cried ,turnbull1 taking his turn roughly1 8,i'll tell you what it's all about4 ,i think that there's no ,god4 ,i take it that it's nobody's business but mine--or ,god's1 if there is one4 ,this young gentleman from the ,highlands happens to think that it's his business4 ,in consequence1 he first takes a walking-stick and smashes my shop2 then he takes the same walking-stick and tries to smash me4 ,to this ,i naturally object4 ,i suggest that if it comes to that we should both have sticks4 ,he improves on the suggestion and proposes that we should both have steel-pointed sticks4 ,the police 7with characteristic unreasonableness7 will not accept either of our proposals2 the result is that we run about dodging the police and have jumped over our garden wall into your magnificent garden to throw ourselves on your magnificent hospitality40 ,the face of the old gentleman had grown redder and redder during this address1 but it was still smiling2 and when he broke out it was with a kind of guffaw4 8,so you really want to fight with drawn swords in my garden10 he asked1 8about whether there is really a ,god80 8,why not80 said ,mac,ian1 with his simple monstrosity of speech2 8all man's worship began when the ,garden of ,eden was founded40 8,yes1 by----60 said ,turnbull1 with an oath1 8and ended when the ,zoological ,gardens were founded40 8,in this garden6 ,in my presence60 cried the stranger1 stamping up and down the gravel and choking with laughter1 8whether there is a ,god60 ,and he went stamping up and down the garden1 making it echo with his unintelligible laughter4 ,then he came back to them more composed and wiping his eyes4 8,why1 how small the world is60 he cried at last4 8,i can settle the whole matter4 ,why1 ,i am ,god60 ,and he suddenly began to kick and wave his well-clad legs about the lawn4 8,you are what80 repeated ,turnbull1 in a tone which is beyond description4 8,why1 ,god1 of course60 answered the other1 thoroughly amused4 8,how funny it is to think that you have tumbled over a garden wall and fallen exactly on the right person6 ,you might have gone floundering about in all sorts of churches and chapels and colleges and schools of philosophy looking for some evidence of the existence of ,god4 ,why1 there is no evidence1 except seeing him4 ,and now you've seen him4 ,you've seen him dance60 ,and the obliging old gentleman instantly stood on one leg without relaxing at all the grave and cultured benignity of his expression4 8,i understood that this garden----0 began the bewildered ,mac,ian4 8,quite so6 ,quite so60 said the man on one leg1 nodding gravely4 8,i said this garden belonged to me and the land outside it4 ,so they do4 ,so does the country beyond that and the sea beyond that and all the rest of the earth4 ,so does the moon4 ,so do the sun and stars40 ,and he added1 with a smile of apology3 8,you see1 ,i'm ,god40 ,turnbull and ,mac,ian looked at him for one moment with a sort of notion that perhaps he was not too old to be merely playing the fool4 ,but after staring steadily for an instant ,turnbull saw the hard and horrible earnestness in the man's eyes behind all his empty animation4 ,then ,turnbull looked very gravely at the strict gravel walls and the gay flower-beds and the long rectangular red-brick building1 which the mist had left evident beyond them4 ,then he looked at ,mac,ian4 ,almost at the same moment another man came walking quickly round the regal clump of rhododendrons4 ,he had the look of a prosperous banker1 wore a good tall silk hat1 was almost stout enough to burst the buttons of a fine frock-coat2 but he was talking to himself1 and one of his elbows had a singular outward jerk as he went by4 ,,xiv4 ,a ,,museum ,,of ,,souls ,the man with the good hat and the jumping elbow went by very quickly2 yet the man with the bad hat1 who thought he was ,god1 overtook him4 ,he ran after him and jumped over a bed of geraniums to catch him4 8,i beg your ,majesty's pardon10 he said1 with mock humility1 8but here is a quarrel which you ought really to judge40 ,then as he led the heavy1 silk-hatted man back towards the group1 he caught ,mac,ian's ear in order to whisper3 8,this poor gentleman is mad2 he thinks he is ,edward ,,vii40 ,at this the self-appointed ,creator slightly winked4 8,of course you won't trust him much2 come to me for everything4 ,but in my position one has to meet so many people4 ,one has to be broadminded40 ,the big banker in the black frock-coat and hat was standing quite grave and dignified on the lawn1 save for his slight twitch of one limb1 and he did not seem by any means unworthy of the part which the other promptly forced upon him4 8,my dear fellow10 said the man in the straw hat1 8these two gentlemen are going to fight a duel of the utmost importance4 ,your own royal position and my much humbler one surely indicate us as the proper seconds4 ,seconds--yes1 seconds----0 and here the speaker was once more shaken with his old malady of laughter4 8,yes1 you and ,i are both seconds--and these two gentlemen can obviously fight in front of us4 ,you1 he-he1 are the king4 ,i am ,god2 really1 they could hardly have better supporters4 ,they have come to the right place40 ,then ,turnbull1 who had been staring with a frown at the fresh turf1 burst out with a rather bitter laugh and cried1 throwing his red head in the air3 8,yes1 by ,god1 ,mac,ian1 ,i think we have come to the right place60 ,and ,mac,ian answered1 with an adamantine stupidity3 8,any place is the right place where they will let us do it40 ,there was a long stillness1 and their eyes involuntarily took in the landscape1 as they had taken in all the landscapes of their everlasting combat2 the bright1 square garden behind the shop2 the whole lift and leaning of the side of ,hampstead ,heath2 the little garden of the decadent choked with flowers2 the square of sand beside the sea at sunrise4 ,they both felt at the same moment all the breadth and blossoming beauty of that paradise1 the coloured trees1 the natural and restful nooks and also the great wall of stone--more awful than the wall of ,china--from which no flesh could flee4 ,turnbull was moodily balancing his sword in his hand as the other spoke2 then he started1 for a mouth whispered quite close to his ear4 ,with a softness incredible in any cat1 the huge1 heavy man in the black hat and frock-coat had crept across the lawn from his own side and was saying in his ear3 8,don't trust that second of yours4 ,he's mad and not so mad1 either2 for he frightfully cunning and sharp4 ,don't believe the story he tells you about why ,i hate him4 ,i know the story he'll tell2 ,i overheard it when the housekeeper was talking to the postman4 ,it's too long to talk about now1 and ,i expect we're watched1 but----0 ,something in ,turnbull made him want suddenly to be sick on the grass2 the mere healthy and heathen horror of the unclean2 the mere inhumane hatred of the inhuman state of madness4 ,he seemed to hear all round him the hateful whispers of that place1 innumerable as leaves whispering in the wind1 and each of them telling eagerly some evil that had not happened or some terrific secret which was not true4 ,all the rationalist and plain man revolted within him against bowing down for a moment in that forest of deception and egotistical darkness4 ,he wanted to blow up that palace of delusions with dynamite2 and in some wild way1 which ,i will not defend1 he tried to do it4 ,he looked across at ,mac,ian and said3 8,oh1 ,i can't stand this60 8,can't stand what80 asked his opponent1 eyeing him doubtfully4 8,shall we say the atmosphere80 replied ,turnbull2 8one can't use uncivil expressions even to a--deity4 ,the fact is1 ,i don't like having ,god for my second40 8,sir60 said that being in a state of great offence1 8in my position ,i am not used to having my favours refused4 ,do you know who ,i am80 ,the editor of ,the ,atheist turned upon him like one who has lost all patience1 and exploded3 8,yes1 you are ,god1 aren't you80 he said1 abruptly1 8why do we have two sets of teeth80 8,teeth80 spluttered the genteel lunatic2 8teeth80 8,yes10 cried ,turnbull1 advancing on him swiftly and with animated gestures1 8why does teething hurt8 ,why do growing pains hurt8 ,why are measles catching8 ,why does a rose have thorns8 ,why do rhinoceroses have horns8 ,why is the horn on the top of the nose8 ,why haven't ,i a horn on the top of my nose1 eh80 ,and he struck the bridge of his nose smartly with his forefinger to indicate the place of the omission and then wagged the finger menacingly at the ,creator4 8,i've often wanted to meet you10 he resumed1 sternly1 after a pause1 8to hold you accountable for all the idiocy and cruelty of this muddled and meaningless world of yours4 ,you make a hundred seeds and only one bears fruit4 ,you make a million worlds and only one seems inhabited4 ,what do you mean by it1 eh8 ,what do you mean by it80 ,the unhappy lunatic had fallen back before this quite novel form of attack1 and lifted his burnt-out cigarette almost like one warding off a blow4 ,turnbull went on like a torrent4 8,a man died yesterday in ,ealing4 ,you murdered him4 ,a girl had the toothache in ,croydon4 ,you gave it her4 ,fifty sailors were drowned off ,selsey ,bill4 ,you scuttled their ship4 ,what have you got to say for yourself1 eh80 ,the representative of omnipotence looked as if he had left most of these things to his subordinates2 he passed a hand over his wrinkling brow and said in a voice much saner than any he had yet used3 8,well1 if you dislike my assistance1 of course--perhaps the other gentleman----0 8,the other gentleman10 cried ,turnbull1 scornfully1 8is a submissive and loyal and obedient gentleman4 ,he likes the people who wear crowns1 whether of diamonds or of stars4 ,he believes in the divine right of kings1 and it is appropriate enough that he should have the king for his second4 ,but it is not appropriate to me that ,i should have ,god for my second4 ,god is not good enough4 ,i dislike and ,i deny the divine right of kings4 ,but ,i dislike more and ,i deny more the divine right of divinity40 ,then after a pause in which he swallowed his passion1 he said to ,mac,ian3 8,you have got the right second1 anyhow40 ,the ,highlander did not answer1 but stood as if thunderstruck with one long and heavy thought4 ,then at last he turned abruptly to his second in the silk hat and said3 8,who are you80 ,the man in the silk hat blinked and bridled in affected surprise1 like one who was in truth accustomed to be doubted4 8,i am ,king ,edward ,,vii10 he said1 with shaky arrogance4 8,do you doubt my word80 8,i do not doubt it in the least10 answered ,mac,ian4 8,then1 why10 said the large man in the silk hat1 trembling from head to foot1 8why do you wear your hat before the king80 8,why should ,i take it off10 retorted ,mac,ian1 with equal heat1 8before a usurper80 ,turnbull swung round on his heel4 8,well1 really10 he said1 8,i thought at least you were a loyal subject40 8,i am the only loyal subject10 answered the ,gael4 8,for nearly thirty years ,i have walked these islands and have not found another40 8,you are always hard to follow10 remarked ,turnbull1 genially1 8and sometimes so much so as to be hardly worth following40 8,i alone am loyal10 insisted ,mac,ian2 8for ,i alone am in rebellion4 ,i am ready at any instant to restore the ,stuarts4 ,i am ready at any instant to defy the ,hanoverian brood--and ,i defy it now even when face to face with the actual ruler of the enormous ,british ,empire60 ,and folding his arms and throwing back his lean1 hawklike face1 he haughtily confronted the man with the formal frock-coat and the eccentric elbow4 8,what right had you stunted ,german squires10 he cried1 8to interfere in a quarrel between ,scotch and ,english and ,irish gentlemen8 ,who made you1 whose fathers could not splutter ,english while they walked in ,whitehall1 who made you the judge between the republic of ,sidney and the monarchy of ,montrose8 ,what had your sires to do with ,england that they should have the foul offering of the blood of ,derwentwater and the heart of ,jimmy ,dawson8 ,where are the corpses of ,culloden8 ,where is the blood of ,lochiel80 ,mac,ian advanced upon his opponent with a bony and pointed finger1 as if indicating the exact pocket in which the blood of that ,cameron was probably kept2 and ,edward ,,vii fell back a few paces in considerable confusion4 8,what good have you ever done to us80 he continued in harsher and harsher accents1 forcing the other back towards the flower-beds4 8,what good have you ever done1 you race of ,german sausages8 ,yards of barbarian etiquette1 to throttle the freedom of aristocracy6 ,gas of northern metaphysics to blow up ,broad ,church bishops like balloons4 ,bad pictures and bad manners and pantheism and the ,albert ,memorial4 ,go back to ,hanover1 you humbug8 ,go to----0 ,before the end of this tirade the arrogance of the monarch had entirely given way2 he had fairly turned tail and was trundling away down the path4 ,mac,ian strode after him still preaching and flourishing his large1 lean hands4 ,the other two remained in the centre of the lawn--,turnbull in convulsions of laughter1 the lunatic in convulsions of disgust4 ,almost at the same moment a third figure came stepping swiftly across the lawn4 ,the advancing figure walked with a stoop1 and yet somehow flung his forked and narrow beard forward4 ,that carefully cut and pointed yellow beard was1 indeed1 the most emphatic thing about him4 ,when he clasped his hands behind him1 under the tails of his coat1 he would wag his beard at a man like a big forefinger4 ,it performed almost all his gestures2 it was more important than the glittering eye-glasses through which he looked or the beautiful bleating voice in which he spoke4 ,his face and neck were of a lusty red1 but lean and stringy2 he always wore his expensive gold-rim eye-glasses slightly askew upon his aquiline nose2 and he always showed two gleaming foreteeth under his moustache1 in a smile so perpetual as to earn the reputation of a sneer4 ,but for the crooked glasses his dress was always exquisite2 and but for the smile he was perfectly and perennially depressed4 8,don't you think10 said the new-comer1 with a sort of supercilious entreaty1 8that we had better all come into breakfast8 ,it is such a mistake to wait for breakfast4 ,it spoils one's temper so much40 8,quite so10 replied ,turnbull1 seriously4 8,there seems almost to have been a little quarrelling here10 said the man with the goatish beard4 8,it is rather a long story10 said ,turnbull1 smiling4 8,originally1 it might be called a phase in the quarrel between science and religion40 ,the new-comer started slightly1 and ,turnbull replied to the question on his face4 8,oh1 yes10 he said1 8,i am science60 8,i congratulate you heartily10 answered the other1 8,i am ,doctor ,quayle40 ,turnbull's eyes did not move1 but he realized that the man in the panama hat had lost all his ease of a landed proprietor and had withdrawn to a distance of thirty yards1 where he stood glaring with all the contraction of fear and hatred that can stiffen a cat4 99 99 99 ,mac,ian was sitting somewhat disconsolately on a stump of tree1 his large black head half buried in his large brown hands1 when ,turnbull strode up to him chewing a cigarette4 ,he did not look up1 but his comrade and enemy addressed him like one who must free himself of his feelings4 8,well1 ,i hope1 at any rate10 he said1 8that you like your precious religion now4 ,i hope you like the society of this poor devil whom your damned tracts and hymns and priests have driven out of his wits4 ,five men in this place1 they tell me1 five men in this place who might have been fathers of families1 and every one of them thinks he is ,god the ,father4 ,oh6 you may talk about the ugliness of science1 but there is no one here who thinks he is ,protoplasm40 8,they naturally prefer a bright part10 said ,mac,ian1 wearily4 8,protoplasm is not worth going mad about40 8,at least10 said ,turnbull1 savagely1 8it was your ,jesus ,christ who started all this bosh about being ,god40 ,for one instant ,mac,ian opened the eyes of battle2 then his tightened lips took a crooked smile and he said1 quite calmly3 8,no1 the idea is older2 it was ,satan who first said that he was ,god40 8,then1 what10 asked ,turnbull1 very slowly1 as he softly picked a flower1 8what is the difference between ,christ and ,satan80 8,it is quite simple10 replied the ,highlander4 8,christ descended into hell2 ,satan fell into it40 8,does it make much odds80 asked the free-thinker4 8,it makes all the odds10 said the other4 8,one of them wanted to go up and went down2 the other wanted to go down and went up4 ,a god can be humble1 a devil can only be humbled40 8,why are you always wanting to humble a man80 asked ,turnbull1 knitting his brows4 8,it affects me as ungenerous40 8,why were you wanting to humble a god when you found him in this garden80 asked ,mac,ian4 8,that was an extreme case of impudence10 said ,turnbull4 8,granting the man his almighty pretensions1 ,i think he was very modest10 said ,mac,ian4 8,it is we who are arrogant1 who know we are only men4 ,the ordinary man in the street is more of a monster than that poor fellow2 for the man in the street treats himself as ,god ,almighty when he knows he isn't4 ,he expects the universe to turn round him1 though he knows he isn't the centre40 8,well10 said ,turnbull1 sitting down on the grass1 8this is a digression1 anyhow4 ,what ,i want to point out is1 that your faith does end in asylums and my science doesn't40 8,doesn't it1 by ,george60 cried ,mac,ian1 scornfully4 8,there are a few men here who are mad on ,god and a few who are mad on the ,bible4 ,but ,i bet there are many more who are simply mad on madness40 8,do you really believe it80 asked the other4 8,scores of them1 ,i should say10 answered ,mac,ian4 8,fellows who have read medical books or fellows whose fathers and uncles had something hereditary in their heads--the whole air they breathe is mad40 8,all the same10 said ,turnbull1 shrewdly1 8,i bet you haven't found a madman of that sort40 8,i bet ,i have60 cried ,evan1 with unusual animation4 8,i've been walking about the garden talking to a poor chap all the morning4 ,he's simply been broken down and driven raving by your damned science4 ,talk about believing one is ,god--why1 it's quite an old1 comfortable1 fireside fancy compared with the sort of things this fellow believes4 ,he believes that there is a ,god1 but that he is better than ,god4 ,he says ,god will be afraid to face him4 ,he says one is always progressing beyond the best4 ,he put his arm in mine and whispered in my ear1 as if it were the apocalypse3 ',never trust a ,god that you can't improve on4'0 8,what can he have meant80 said the atheist1 with all his logic awake4 8,obviously one should not trust any ,god that one can improve on40 8,it is the way he talks10 said ,mac,ian1 almost indifferently2 8but he says rummier things than that4 ,he says that a man's doctor ought to decide what woman he marries2 and he says that children ought not to be brought up by their parents1 because a physical partiality will then distort the judgement of the educator40 8,oh1 dear60 said ,turnbull1 laughing1 8you have certainly come across a pretty bad case1 and incidentally proved your own4 ,i suppose some men do lose their wits through science as through love and other good things40 8,and he says10 went on ,mac,ian1 monotonously1 8that he cannot see why anyone should suppose that a triangle is a three-sided figure4 ,he says that on some higher plane----0 ,turnbull leapt to his feet as by an electric shock4 8,i never could have believed10 he cried1 8that you had humour enough to tell a lie4 ,you've gone a bit too far1 old man1 with your little joke4 ,even in a lunatic asylum there can't be anybody who1 having thought about the matter1 thinks that a triangle has not got three sides4 ,if he exists he must be a new era in human psychology4 ,but he doesn't exist40 8,i will go and fetch him10 said ,mac,ian1 calmly2 8,i left the poor fellow wandering about by the nasturtium bed40 ,mac,ian vanished1 and in a few moments returned1 trailing with him his own discovery among lunatics1 who was a slender man with a fixed smile and an unfixed and rolling head4 ,he had a goatlike beard just long enough to be shaken in a strong wind4 ,turnbull sprang to his feet and was like one who is speechless through choking a sudden shout of laughter4 8,why1 you great donkey10 he shouted1 in an ear-shattering whisper1 8that's not one of the patients at all4 ,that's one of the doctors40 ,evan looked back at the leering head with the long-pointed beard and repeated the word inquiringly3 8,one of the doctors80 8,oh1 you know what ,i mean10 said ,turnbull1 impatiently4 8,the medical authorities of the place40 ,evan was still staring back curiously at the beaming and bearded creature behind him4 8,the mad doctors10 said ,turnbull1 shortly4 8,quite so10 said ,mac,ian4 ,after a rather restless silence ,turnbull plucked ,mac,ian by the elbow and pulled him aside4 8,for goodness sake10 he said1 8don't offend this fellow2 he may be as mad as ten hatters1 if you like1 but he has us between his finger and thumb4 ,this is the very time he appointed to talk with us about our--well1 our exeat40 8,but what can it matter80 asked the wondering ,mac,ian4 8,he can't keep us in the asylum4 ,we're not mad40 8,jackass60 said ,turnbull1 heartily1 8of course we're not mad4 ,of course1 if we are medically examined and the thing is thrashed out1 they will find we are not mad4 ,but don't you see that if the thing is thrashed out it will mean letters to this reference and telegrams to that2 and at the first word of who we are1 we shall be taken out of a madhouse1 where we may smoke1 to a jail1 where we mayn't4 ,no1 if we manage this very quietly1 he may merely let us out at the front door as stray revellers4 ,if there's half an hour of inquiry1 we are cooked40 ,mac,ian looked at the grass frowningly for a few seconds1 and then said in a new1 small and childish voice3 8,i am awfully stupid1 ,mr4 ,turnbull2 you must be patient with me40 ,turnbull caught ,evan's elbow again with quite another gesture4 8,come10 he cried1 with the harsh voice of one who hides emotion1 8come and let us be tactful in chorus40 ,the doctor with the pointed beard was already slanting it forward at a more than usually acute angle1 with the smile that expressed expectancy4 8,i hope ,i do not hurry you1 gentlemen10 he said1 with the faintest suggestion of a sneer at their hurried consultation1 8but ,i believe you wanted to see me at half past eleven40 8,i am most awfully sorry1 ,doctor10 said ,turnbull1 with ready amiability2 8,i never meant to keep you waiting2 but the silly accident that has landed us in your garden may have some rather serious consequences to our friends elsewhere1 and my friend here was just drawing my attention to some of them40 8,quite so6 ,quite so60 said the doctor1 hurriedly4 8,if you really want to put anything before me1 ,i can give you a few moments in my consulting-room40 ,he led them rapidly into a small but imposing apartment1 which seemed to be built and furnished entirely in red-varnished wood4 ,there was one desk occupied with carefully docketed papers2 and there were several chairs of the red-varnished wood--though of different shape4 ,all along the wall ran something that might have been a bookcase1 only that it was not filled with books1 but with flat1 oblong slabs or cases of the same polished dark-red consistency4 ,what those flat wooden cases were they could form no conception4 ,the doctor sat down with a polite impatience on his professional perch2 ,mac,ian remained standing1 but ,turnbull threw himself almost with luxury into a hard wooden arm-chair4 8,this is a most absurd business1 ,doctor10 he said1 8and ,i am ashamed to take up the time of busy professional men with such pranks from outside4 ,the plain fact is1 that he and ,i and a pack of silly men and girls have organized a game across this part of the country--a sort of combination of hare and hounds and hide and seek--,i dare say you've heard of it4 ,we are the hares1 and1 seeing your high wall look so inviting1 we tumbled over it1 and naturally were a little startled with what we found on the other side40 8,quite so60 said the doctor1 mildly4 8,i can understand that you were startled40 ,turnbull had expected him to ask what place was the headquarters of the new exhilarating game1 and who were the male and female enthusiasts who had brought it to such perfection2 in fact1 ,turnbull was busy making up these personal and topographical particulars4 ,as the doctor did not ask the question1 he grew slightly uneasy1 and risked the question3 8,i hope you will accept my assurance that the thing was an accident and that no intrusion was meant40 8,oh1 yes1 sir10 replied the doctor1 smiling1 8,i accept everything that you say40 8,in that case10 said ,turnbull1 rising genially1 8we must not further interrupt your important duties4 ,i suppose there will be someone to let us out80 8,no10 said the doctor1 still smiling steadily and pleasantly1 8there will be no one to let you out40 8,can we let ourselves out1 then80 asked ,turnbull1 in some surprise4 8,why1 of course not10 said the beaming scientist2 8think how dangerous that would be in a place like this40 8,then1 how the devil are we to get out80 cried ,turnbull1 losing his manners for the first time4 8,it is a question of time1 of receptivity1 and treatment10 said the doctor1 arching his eyebrows indifferently4 8,i do not regard either of your cases as incurable40 ,and with that the man of the world was struck dumb1 and1 as in all intolerable moments1 the word was with the unworldly4 ,mac,ian took one stride to the table1 leant across it1 and said3 8,we can't stop here1 we're not mad people60 8,we don't use the crude phrase10 said the doctor1 smiling at his patent-leather boots4 8,but you can't think us mad10 thundered ,mac,ian4 8,you never saw us before4 ,you know nothing about us4 ,you haven't even examined us40 ,the doctor threw back his head and beard4 8,oh1 yes10 he said1 8very thoroughly40 8,but you can't shut a man up on your mere impressions without documents or certificates or anything80 ,the doctor got languidly to his feet4 8,quite so10 he said4 8,you certainly ought to see the documents40 ,he went across to the curious mock book-shelves and took down one of the flat mahogany cases4 ,this he opened with a curious key at his watch-chain1 and laying back a flap revealed a quire of foolscap covered with close but quite clear writing4 ,the first three words were in such large copy-book hand that they caught the eye even at a distance4 ,they were3 8,mac,ian1 ,evan ,stuart40 ,evan bent his angry eagle face over it2 yet something blurred it and he could never swear he saw it distinctly4 ,he saw something that began3 8,prenatal influences predisposing to mania4 ,grandfather believed in return of the ,stuarts4 ,mother carried bone of ,st4 ,eulalia with which she touched children in sickness4 ,marked religious mania at early age----0 ,evan fell back and fought for his speech4 8,oh60 he burst out at last4 8,oh6 if all this world ,i have walked in had been as sane as my mother was40 ,then he compressed his temples with his hands1 as if to crush them4 ,and then lifted suddenly a face that looked fresh and young1 as if he had dipped and washed it in some holy well4 8,very well10 he cried2 8,i will take the sour with the sweet4 ,i will pay the penalty of having enjoyed ,god in this monstrous modern earth that cannot enjoy man or beast4 ,i will die happy in your madhouse1 only because ,i know what ,i know4 ,let it be granted1 then--,mac,ian is a mystic2 ,mac,ian is a maniac4 ,but this honest shopkeeper and editor whom ,i have dragged on my inhuman escapades1 you cannot keep him4 ,he will go free1 thank ,god1 he is not down in any damned document4 ,his ancestor1 ,i am certain1 did not die at ,culloden4 ,his mother1 ,i swear1 had no relics4 ,let my friend out of your front door1 and as for me----0 ,the doctor had already gone across to the laden shelves1 and after a few minutes' short-sighted peering1 had pulled down another parallelogram of dark-red wood4 ,this also he unlocked on the table1 and with the same unerring egotistic eye on of the company saw the words1 written in large letters3 8,turnbull1 ,james40 ,hitherto ,turnbull himself had somewhat scornfully surrendered his part in the whole business2 but he was too honest and unaffected not to start at his own name4 ,after the name1 the inscription appeared to run3 8,unique case of ,eleutheromania4 ,parentage1 as so often in such cases1 prosaic and healthy4 ,eleutheromaniac signs occurred early1 however1 leading him to attach himself to the individualist ,bradlaugh4 ,recent outbreak of pure anarchy----0 ,turnbull slammed the case to1 almost smashing it1 and said with a burst of savage laughter3 8,oh6 come along1 ,mac,ian2 ,i don't care so much1 even about getting out of the madhouse1 if only we get out of this room4 ,you were right enough1 ,mac,ian1 when you spoke about--about mad doctors40 ,somehow they found themselves outside in the cool1 green garden1 and then1 after a stunned silence1 ,turnbull said3 8,there is one thing that was puzzling me all the time1 and ,i understand it now40 8,what do you mean80 asked ,evan4 8,no man by will or wit10 answered ,turnbull1 8can get out of this garden2 and yet we got into it merely by jumping over a garden wall4 ,the whole thing explains itself easily enough4 ,that undefended wall was an open trap4 ,it was a trap laid for two celebrated lunatics4 ,they saw us get in right enough4 ,and they will see that we do not get out40 ,evan gazed at the garden wall1 gravely for more than a minute1 and then he nodded without a word4 ,,xv4 ,,the ,,dream ,,of ,,macian ,the system of espionage in the asylum was so effective and complete that in practice the patients could often enjoy a sense of almost complete solitude4 ,they could stray up so near to the wall in an apparently unwatched garden as to find it easy to jump over it4 ,they would only have found the error of their calculations if they had tried to jump4 ,under this insulting liberty1 in this artificial loneliness1 ,evan ,mac,ian was in the habit of creeping out into the garden after dark--especially upon moonlight nights4 ,the moon1 indeed1 was for him always a positive magnet in a manner somewhat hard to explain to those of a robuster attitude4 ,evidently1 ,apollo is to the full as poetical as ,diana2 but it is not a question of poetry in the matured and intellectual sense of the word4 ,it is a question of a certain solid and childish fancy4 ,the sun is in the strict and literal sense invisible2 that is to say1 that by our bodily eyes it cannot properly be seen4 ,but the moon is a much simpler thing2 a naked and nursery sort of thing4 ,it hangs in the sky quite solid and quite silver and quite useless2 it is one huge celestial snowball4 ,it was at least some such infantile facts and fancies which led ,evan again and again during his dehumanized imprisonment to go out as if to shoot the moon4 ,he was out in the garden on one such luminous and ghostly night1 when the steady moonshine toned down all the colours of the garden until almost the strongest tints to be seen were the strong soft blue of the sky and the large lemon moon4 ,he was walking with his face turned up to it in that rather half-witted fashion which might have excused the error of his keepers2 and as he gazed he became aware of something little and lustrous flying close to the lustrous orb1 like a bright chip knocked off the moon4 ,at first he thought it was a mere sparkle or refraction in his own eyesight2 he blinked and cleared his eyes4 ,then he thought it was a falling star2 only it did not fall4 ,it jerked awkwardly up and down in a way unknown among meteors and strangely reminiscent of the works of man4 ,the next moment the thing drove right across the moon1 and from being silver upon blue1 suddenly became black upon silver2 then although it passed the field of light in a flash its outline was unmistakable though eccentric4 ,it was a flying ship4 ,the vessel took one long and sweeping curve across the sky and came nearer and nearer to ,mac,ian1 like a steam-engine coming round a bend4 ,it was of pure white steel1 and in the moon it gleamed like the armour of ,sir ,galahad4 ,the simile of such virginity is not inappropriate2 for1 as it grew larger and larger and lower and lower1 ,evan saw that the only figure in it was robed in white from head to foot and crowned with snow-white hair1 on which the moonshine lay like a benediction4 ,the figure stood so still that he could easily have supposed it to be a statue4 ,indeed1 he thought it was until it spoke4 8,evan10 said the voice1 and it spoke with the simple authority of some forgotten father revisiting his children1 8you have remained here long enough1 and your sword is wanted elsewhere40 8,wanted for what80 asked the young man1 accepting the monstrous event with a queer and clumsy naturalness2 8what is my sword wanted for80 8,for all that you hold dear10 said the man standing in the moonlight2 8for the thrones of authority and for all ancient loyalty to law40 ,evan looked up at the lunar orb again as if in irrational appeal--a moon calf bleating to his mother the moon4 ,but the face of ,luna seemed as witless as his own2 there is no help in nature against the supernatural2 and he looked again at the tall marble figure that might have been made out of solid moonlight4 ,then he said in a loud voice3 8,who are you80 and the next moment was seized by a sort of choking terror lest his question should be answered4 ,but the unknown preserved an impenetrable silence for a long space and then only answered3 8,i must not say who ,i am until the end of the world2 but ,i may say what ,i am4 ,i am the law40 ,and he lifted his head so that the moon smote full upon his beautiful and ancient face4 ,the face was the face of a ,greek god grown old1 but not grown either weak or ugly2 there was nothing to break its regularity except a rather long chin with a cleft in it1 and this rather added distinction than lessened beauty4 ,his strong1 well-opened eyes were very brilliant but quite colourless like steel4 ,mac,ian was one of those to whom a reverence and self-submission in ritual come quite easy1 and are ordinary things4 ,it was not artificial in him to bend slightly to this solemn apparition or to lower his voice when he said3 8,do you bring me some message80 8,i do bring you a message10 answered the man of moon and marble4 8,the king has returned40 ,evan did not ask for or require any explanation4 8,i suppose you can take me to the war10 he said1 and the silent silver figure only bowed its head again4 ,mac,ian clambered into the silver boat1 and it rose upward to the stars4 ,to say that it rose to the stars is no mere metaphor1 for the sky had cleared to that occasional and astonishing transparency in which one can see plainly both stars and moon4 ,as the white-robed figure went upward in his white chariot1 he said quite quietly to ,evan3 8,there is an answer to all the folly talked about equality4 ,some stars are big and some small2 some stand still and some circle around them as they stand4 ,they can be orderly1 but they cannot be equal40 8,they are all very beautiful10 said ,evan1 as if in doubt4 8,they are all beautiful10 answered the other1 8because each is in his place and owns his superior4 ,and now ,england will be beautiful after the same fashion4 ,the earth will be as beautiful as the heavens1 because our kings have come back to us40 8,the ,stuart----0 began ,evan1 earnestly4 8,yes10 answered the old man1 8that which has returned is ,stuart and yet older than ,stuart4 ,it is ,capet and ,plantagenet and ,pendragon4 ,it is all that good old time of which proverbs tell1 that golden reign of ,saturn against which gods and men were rebels4 ,it is all that was ever lost by insolence and overwhelmed in rebellion4 ,it is your own forefather1 ,mac,ian with the broken sword1 bleeding without hope at ,culloden4 ,it is ,charles refusing to answer the questions of the rebel court4 ,it is ,mary of the magic face confronting the gloomy and grasping peers and the boorish moralities of ,knox4 ,it is ,richard1 the last ,plantagenet1 giving his crown to ,bolingbroke as to a common brigand4 ,it is ,arthur1 overwhelmed in ,lyonesse by heathen armies and dying in the mist1 doubtful if ever he shall return40 8,but now----0 said ,evan1 in a low voice4 8,but now60 said the old man2 8he has returned40 8,is the war still raging80 asked ,mac,ian4 8,it rages like the pit itself beyond the sea whither ,i am taking you10 answered the other4 8,but in ,england the king enjoys his own again4 ,the people are once more taught and ruled as is best2 they are happy knights1 happy squires1 happy servants1 happy serfs1 if you will2 but free at last of that load of vexation and lonely vanity which was called being a citizen40 8,is ,england1 indeed1 so secure80 asked ,evan4 8,look out and see10 said the guide4 8,i fancy you have seen this place before40 ,they were driving through the air towards one region of the sky where the hollow of night seemed darkest and which was quite without stars4 ,but against this black background there sprang up1 picked out in glittering silver1 a dome and a cross4 ,it seemed that it was really newly covered with silver1 which in the strong moonlight was like white flame4 ,but1 however1 covered or painted1 ,evan had no difficult in knowing the place again4 ,he saw the great thoroughfare that sloped upward to the base of its huge pedestal of steps4 ,and he wondered whether the little shop was still by the side of it and whether its window had been mended4 ,as the flying ship swept round the dome he observed other alterations4 ,the dome had been redecorated so as to give it a more solemn and somewhat more ecclesiastical note2 the ball was draped or destroyed1 and round the gallery1 under the cross1 ran what looked like a ring of silver statues1 like the little leaden images that stood round the hat of ,louis ,,xi4 ,round the second gallery1 at the base of the dome1 ran a second rank of such images1 and ,evan thought there was another round the steps below4 ,when they came closer he saw that they were figures in complete armour of steel or silver1 each with a naked sword1 point upward2 and then he saw one of the swords move4 ,these were not statues but an armed order of chivalry thrown in three circles round the cross4 ,mac,ian drew in his breath1 as children do at anything they think utterly beautiful4 ,for he could imagine nothing that so echoed his own visions of pontifical or chivalric art as this white dome sitting like a vast silver tiara over ,london1 ringed with a triple crown of swords4 ,as they went sailing down ,ludgate ,hill1 ,evan saw that the state of the streets fully answered his companion's claim about the reintroduction of order4 ,all the old blackcoated bustle with its cockney vivacity and vulgarity had disappeared4 ,groups of labourers1 quietly but picturesquely clad1 were passing up and down in sufficiently large numbers2 but it required but a few mounted men to keep the streets in order4 ,the mounted men were not common policemen1 but knights with spurs and plume whose smooth and splendid armour glittered like diamond rather than steel4 ,only in one place--at the corner of ,bouverie ,street--did there appear to be a moment's confusion1 and that was due to hurry rather than resistance4 ,but one old grumbling man did not get out of the way quick enough1 and the man on horseback struck him1 not severely1 across the shoulders with the flat of his sword4 8,the soldier had no business to do that10 said ,mac,ian1 sharply4 8,the old man was moving as quickly as he could40 8,we attach great importance to discipline in the streets10 said the man in white1 with a slight smile4 8,discipline is not so important as justice10 said ,mac,ian4 ,the other did not answer4 ,then after a swift silence that took them out across ,st4 ,james's ,park1 he said3 8,the people must be taught to obey2 they must learn their own ignorance4 ,and ,i am not sure10 he continued1 turning his back on ,evan and looking out of the prow of the ship into the darkness1 8,i am not sure that ,i agree with your little maxim about justice4 ,discipline for the whole society is surely more important than justice to an individual40 ,evan1 who was also leaning over the edge1 swung round with startling suddenness and stared at the other's back4 8,discipline for society----0 he repeated1 very staccato1 8more important--justice to individual80 ,then after a long silence he called out3 8,who and what are you80 8,i am an angel10 said the white-robed figure1 without turning round4 8,you are not a ,catholic10 said ,mac,ian4 ,the other seemed to take no notice1 but reverted to the main topic4 8,in our armies up in heaven we learn to put a wholesome fear into subordinates40 ,mac,ian sat craning his neck forward with an extraordinary and unaccountable eagerness4 8,go on60 he cried1 twisting and untwisting his long1 bony fingers1 8go on60 8,besides10 continued he1 in the prow1 8you must allow for a certain high spirit and haughtiness in the superior type40 8,go on60 said ,evan1 with burning eyes4 8,just as the sight of sin offends ,god10 said the unknown1 8so does the sight of ugliness offend ,apollo4 ,the beautiful and princely must1 of necessity1 be impatient with the squalid and----0 8,why1 you great fool60 cried ,mac,ian1 rising to the top of his tremendous stature1 8did you think ,i would have doubted only for that rap with a sword8 ,i know that noble orders have bad knights1 that good knights have bad tempers1 that the ,church has rough priests and coarse cardinals2 ,i have known it ever since ,i was born4 ,you fool6 you had only to say1 ',yes1 it is rather a shame1' and ,i should have forgotten the affair4 ,but ,i saw on your mouth the twitch of your infernal sophistry2 ,i knew that something was wrong with you and your cathedrals4 ,something is wrong2 everything is wrong4 ,you are not an angel4 ,that is not a church4 ,it is not the rightful king who has come home40 8,that is unfortunate10 said the other1 in a quiet but hard voice1 8because you are going to see his ,majesty40 8,no10 said ,mac,ian1 8,i am going to jump over the side40 8,do you desire death80 8,no10 said ,evan1 quite composedly1 8,i desire a miracle40 8,from whom do you ask it8 ,to whom do you appeal80 said his companion1 sternly4 8,you have betrayed the king1 renounced his cross on the cathedral1 and insulted an archangel40 8,i appeal to ,god10 said ,evan1 and sprang up and stood upon the edge of the swaying ship4 ,the being in the prow turned slowly round2 he looked at ,evan with eyes which were like two suns1 and put his hand to his mouth just too late to hide an awful smile4 8,and how do you know10 he said1 8how do you know that ,i am not ,god80 ,mac,ian screamed4 8,ah60 he cried4 8,now ,i know who you really are4 ,you are not ,god4 ,you are not one of ,god's angels4 ,but you were once40 ,the being's hand dropped from his mouth and ,evan dropped out of the car4 ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,dream ,,of ,,turnbull ,turnbull was walking rather rampantly up and down the garden on a gusty evening chewing his cigar and in that mood when every man suppresses an instinct to spit4 ,he was not1 as a rule1 a man much acquainted with moods2 and the storms and sunbursts of ,mac,ian's soul passed before him as an impressive but unmeaning panorama1 like the anarchy of ,highland scenery4 ,turnbull was one of those men in whom a continuous appetite and industry of the intellect leave the emotions very simple and steady4 ,his heart was in the right place2 but he was quite content to leave it there4 ,it was his head that was his hobby4 ,his mornings and evenings were marked not by impulses or thirsty desires1 not by hope or by heart-break2 they were filled with the fallacies he had detected1 the problems he had made plain1 the adverse theories he had wrestled with and thrown1 the grand generalizations he had justified4 ,but even the cheerful inner life of a logician may be upset by a lunatic asylum1 to say nothing of whiffs of memory from a lady in ,jersey1 and the little red-bearded man on this windy evening was in a dangerous frame of mind4 ,plain and positive as he was1 the influence of earth and sky may have been greater on him than he imagined2 and the weather that walked the world at that moment was as red and angry as ,turnbull4 ,long strips and swirls of tattered and tawny cloud were dragged downward to the west exactly as torn red raiment would be dragged4 ,and so strong and pitiless was the wind that it whipped away fragments of red-flowering bushes or of copper beech1 and drove them also across the garden1 a drift of red leaves1 like the leaves of autumn1 as in parody of the red and driven rags of cloud4 ,there was a sense in earth and heaven as of everything breaking up1 and all the revolutionist in ,turnbull rejoiced that it was breaking up4 ,the trees were breaking up under the wind1 even in the tall strength of their bloom3 the clouds were breaking up and losing even their large heraldic shapes4 ,shards and shreds of copper cloud split off continually and floated by themselves1 and for some reason the truculent eye of ,turnbull was attracted to one of these careering cloudlets1 which seemed to him to career in an exaggerated manner4 ,also it kept its shape1 which is unusual with clouds shaken off2 also its shape was of an odd sort4 ,turnbull continued to stare at it1 and in a little time occurred that crucial instant when a thing1 however incredible1 is accepted as a fact4 ,the copper cloud was tumbling down towards the earth1 like some gigantic leaf from the copper beeches4 ,and as it came nearer it was evident1 first1 that it was not a cloud1 and1 second1 that it was not itself of the colour of copper2 only1 being burnished like a mirror1 it had reflected the red-brown colours of the burning clouds4 ,as the thing whirled like a windswept leaf down towards the wall of the garden it was clear that it was some sort of air-ship made of metal1 and slapping the air with big broad fins of steel4 ,when it came about a hundred feet above the garden1 a shaggy1 lean figure leapt up in it1 almost black against the bronze and scarlet of the west1 and1 flinging out a kind of hook or anchor1 caught on to the green apple-tree just under the wall2 and from that fixed holding ground the ship swung in the red tempest like a captive balloon4 ,while our friend stood frozen for an instant by his astonishment1 the queer figure in the airy car tipped the vehicle almost upside down by leaping over the side of it1 seemed to slide or drop down the rope like a monkey1 and alighted 7with impossible precision and placidity7 seated on the edge of the wall1 over which he kicked and dangled his legs as he grinned at ,turnbull4 ,the wind roared in the trees yet more ruinous and desolate1 the red tails of the sunset were dragged downward like red dragons sucked down to death1 and still on the top of the asylum wall sat the sinister figure with the grimace1 swinging his feet in tune with the tempest2 while above him1 at the end of its tossing or tightened cord1 the enormous iron air-ship floated as light and as little noticed as a baby's balloon upon its string4 ,turnbull's first movement after sixty motionless seconds was to turn round and look at the large1 luxuriant parallelogram of the garden and the long1 low rectangular building beyond4 ,there was not a soul or a stir of life within sight4 ,and he had a quite meaningless sensation1 as if there never really had been any one else there except he since the foundation of the world4 ,stiffening in himself the masculine but mirthless courage of the atheist1 he drew a little nearer to the wall and1 catching the man at a slightly different angle of the evening light1 could see his face and figure quite plain4 ,two facts about him stood out in the picked colours of some piratical schoolboy's story4 ,the first was that his lean brown body was bare to the belt of his loose white trousers2 the other that through hygiene1 affectation1 or whatever other cause1 he had a scarlet handkerchief tied tightly but somewhat aslant across his brow4 ,after these two facts had become emphatic1 others appeared sufficiently important4 ,one was that under the scarlet rag the hair was plentiful1 but white as with the last snows of mortality4 ,another was that under the mop of white and senile hair the face was strong1 handsome1 and smiling1 with a well-cut profile and a long cloven chin4 ,the length of this lower part of the face and the strange cleft in it 7which gave the man1 in quite another sense from the common one1 a double chin7 faintly spoilt the claim of the face to absolute regularity1 but it greatly assisted it in wearing the expression of half-smiling and half-sneering arrogance with which it was staring at all the stones1 all the flowers1 but especially at the solitary man4 8,what do you want80 shouted ,turnbull4 8,i want you1 ,jimmy10 said the eccentric man on the wall1 and with the very word he had let himself down with a leap on to the centre of the lawn1 where he bounded once literally like an ,india-rubber ball and then stood grinning with his legs astride4 ,the only three facts that ,turnbull could now add to his inventory were that the man had an ugly-looking knife swinging at his trousers belt1 that his brown feet were as bare as his bronzed trunk and arms1 and that his eyes had a singular bleak brilliancy which was of no particular colour4 8,excuse my not being in evening dress10 said the newcomer with an urbane smile4 8,we scientific men1 you know--,i have to work my own engines--electrical engineer--very hot work40 8,look here10 said ,turnbull1 sturdily clenching his fists in his trousers pockets1 8,i am bound to expect lunatics inside these four walls2 but ,i do bar their coming from outside1 bang out of the sunset clouds40 8,and yet you came from the outside1 too1 ,jim10 said the stranger in a voice almost affectionate4 8,what do you want80 asked ,turnbull1 with an explosion of temper as sudden as a pistol shot4 8,i have already told you10 said the man1 lowering his voice and speaking with evident sincerity2 8,i want you40 8,what do you want with me80 8,i want exactly what you want10 said the new-comer with a new gravity4 8,i want the ,revolution40 ,turnbull looked at the fire-swept sky and the wind-stricken woodlands1 and kept on repeating the word voicelessly to himself--the word that did indeed so thoroughly express his mood of rage as it had been among those red clouds and rocking tree-tops4 8,revolution60 he said to himself4 8,the ,revolution--yes1 that is what ,i want right enough--anything1 so long as it is a ,revolution40 ,to some cause he could never explain he found himself completing the sentence on the top of the wall1 having automatically followed the stranger so far4 ,but when the stranger silently indicated the rope that led to the machine1 he found himself pausing and saying3 8,i can't leave ,mac,ian behind in this den40 8,we are going to destroy the ,pope and all the kings10 said the new-comer4 8,would it be wiser to take him with us80 ,somehow the muttering ,turnbull found himself in the flying ship also1 and it swung up into the sunset4 8,all the great rebels have been very little rebels10 said the man with the red scarf4 8,they have been like fourth-form boys who sometimes venture to hit a fifth-form boy4 ,that was all the worth of their ,french ,revolution and regicide4 ,the boys never really dared to defy the schoolmaster40 8,whom do you mean by the schoolmaster80 asked ,turnbull4 8,you know whom ,i mean10 answered the strange man1 as he lay back on cushions and looked up into the angry sky4 ,they seemed rising into stronger and stronger sunlight1 as if it were sunrise rather than sunset4 ,but when they looked down at the earth they saw it growing darker and darker4 ,the lunatic asylum in its large rectangular grounds spread below them in a foreshortened and infantile plan1 and looked for the first time the grotesque thing that it was4 ,but the clear colours of the plan were growing darker every moment4 ,the masses of rose or rhododendron deepened from crimson to violet4 ,the maze of gravel pathways faded from gold to brown4 ,by the time they had risen a few hundred feet higher nothing could be seen of that darkening landscape except the lines of lighted windows1 each one of which1 at least1 was the light of one lost intelligence4 ,but on them as they swept upward better and braver winds seemed to blow1 and on them the ruby light of evening seemed struck1 and splashed like red spurts from the grapes of ,dionysus4 ,below them the fallen lights were literally the fallen stars of servitude4 ,and above them all the red and raging clouds were like the leaping flags of liberty4 ,the man with the cloven chin seemed to have a singular power of understanding thoughts2 for1 as ,turnbull felt the whole universe tilt and turn over his head1 the stranger said exactly the right thing4 8,doesn't it seem as if everything were being upset80 said he2 8and if once everything is upset1 ,he will be upset on top of it40 ,then1 as ,turnbull made no answer1 his host continued3 8,that is the really fine thing about space4 ,it is topsy-turvy4 ,you have only to climb far enough towards the morning star to feel that you are coming down to it4 ,you have only to dive deep enough into the abyss to feel that you are rising4 ,that is the only glory of this universe--it is a giddy universe40 ,then1 as ,turnbull was still silent1 he added3 8,the heavens are full of revolution--of the real sort of revolution4 ,all the high things are sinking low and all the big things looking small4 ,all the people who think they are aspiring find they are falling head foremost4 ,and all the people who think they are condescending find they are climbing up a precipice4 ,that is the intoxication of space4 ,that is the only joy of eternity--doubt4 ,there is only one pleasure the angels can possibly have in flying1 and that is1 that they do not know whether they are on their head or their heels40 ,then1 finding his companion still mute1 he fell himself into a smiling and motionless meditation1 at the end of which he said suddenly3 8,so ,mac,ian converted you80 ,turnbull sprang up as if spurning the steel car from under his feet4 8,converted me60 he cried4 8,what the devil do you mean8 ,i have known him for a month1 and ,i have not retracted a single----0 8,this ,catholicism is a curious thing10 said the man of the cloven chin in uninterrupted reflectiveness1 leaning his elegant elbows over the edge of the vessel2 8it soaks and weakens men without their knowing it1 just as ,i fear it has soaked and weakened you40 ,turnbull stood in an attitude which might well have meant pitching the other man out of the flying ship4 8,i am an atheist10 he said1 in a stifled voice4 8,i have always been an atheist4 ,i am still an atheist40 ,then1 addressing the other's indolent and indifferent back1 he cried3 8,in ,god's name what do you mean80 ,and the other answered without turning round3 8,i mean nothing in ,god's name40 ,turnbull spat over the edge of the car and fell back furiously into his seat4 ,the other continued still unruffled1 and staring over the edge idly as an angler stares down at a stream4 8,the truth is that we never thought that you could have been caught10 he said2 8we counted on you as the one red-hot revolutionary left in the world4 ,but1 of course1 these men like ,mac,ian are awfully clever1 especially when they pretend to be stupid40 ,turnbull leapt up again in a living fury and cried3 8,what have ,i got to do with ,mac,ian8 ,i believe all ,i ever believed1 and disbelieve all ,i ever disbelieved4 ,what does all this mean1 and what do you want with me here80 ,then for the first time the other lifted himself from the edge of the car and faced him4 8,i have brought you here10 he answered1 8to take part in the last war of the world40 8,the last war60 repeated ,turnbull1 even in his dazed state a little touchy about such a dogma2 8how do you know it will be the last80 ,the man laid himself back in his reposeful attitude1 and said3 8,it is the last war1 because if it does not cure the world for ever1 it will destroy it40 8,what do you mean80 8,i only mean what you mean10 answered the unknown in a temperate voice4 8,what was it that you always meant on those million and one nights when you walked outside your ,ludgate ,hill shop and shook your hand in the air80 8,still ,i do not see10 said ,turnbull1 stubbornly4 8,you will soon10 said the other1 and abruptly bent downward one iron handle of his huge machine4 ,the engine stopped1 stooped1 and dived almost as deliberately as a man bathing2 in their downward rush they swept within fifty yards of a big bulk of stone that ,turnbull knew only too well4 ,the last red anger of the sunset was ended2 the dome of heaven was dark2 the lanes of flaring light in the streets below hardly lit up the base of the building4 ,but he saw that it was ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral1 and he saw that on the top of it the ball was still standing erect1 but the cross was stricken and had fallen sideways4 ,then only he cared to look down into the streets1 and saw that they were inflamed with uproar and tossing passions4 8,we arrive at a happy moment10 said the man steering the ship4 8,the insurgents are bombarding the city1 and a cannon-ball has just hit the cross4 ,many of the insurgents are simple people1 and they naturally regard it as a happy omen40 8,quite so10 said ,turnbull1 in a rather colourless voice4 8,yes10 replied the other4 8,i thought you would be glad to see your prayer answered4 ,of course ,i apologize for the word prayer40 8,don't mention it10 said ,turnbull4 ,the flying ship had come down upon a sort of curve1 and was now rising again4 ,the higher and higher it rose the broader and broader became the scenes of flame and desolation underneath4 ,ludgate ,hill indeed had been an uncaptured and comparatively quiet height1 altered only by the startling coincidence of the cross fallen awry4 ,all the other thoroughfares on all sides of that hill were full of the pulsation and the pain of battle1 full of shaking torches and shouting faces4 ,when at length they had risen high enough to have a bird's-eye view of the whole campaign1 ,turnbull was already intoxicated4 ,he had smelt gunpowder1 which was the incense of his own revolutionary religion4 8,have the people really risen80 he asked1 breathlessly4 8,what are they fighting about80 8,the programme is rather elaborate10 said his entertainer with some indifference4 8,i think ,dr4 ,hertz drew it up40 ,turnbull wrinkled his forehead4 8,are all the poor people with the ,revolution80 he asked4 ,the other shrugged his shoulders4 8,all the instructed and class-conscious part of them without exception10 he replied4 8,there were certainly a few districts2 in fact1 we are passing over them just now----0 ,turnbull looked down and saw that the polished car was literally lit up from underneath by the far-flung fires from below4 ,underneath whole squares and solid districts were in flames1 like prairies or forests on fire4 8,dr4 ,hertz has convinced everybody10 said ,turnbull's cicerone in a smooth voice1 8that nothing can really be done with the real slums4 ,his celebrated maxim has been quite adopted4 ,i mean the three celebrated sentences3 ',no man should be unemployed4 ,employ the employables4 ,destroy the unemployables4'0 ,there was a silence1 and then ,turnbull said in a rather strained voice3 8,and do ,i understand that this good work is going on under here80 8,going on splendidly10 replied his companion in the heartiest voice4 8,you see1 these people were much too tired and weak even to join the social war4 ,they were a definite hindrance to it40 8,and so you are simply burning them out80 8,it does seem absurdly simple10 said the man1 with a beaming smile1 8when one thinks of all the worry and talk about helping a hopeless slave population1 when the future obviously was only crying to be rid of them4 ,there are happy babes unborn ready to burst the doors when these drivellers are swept away40 8,will you permit me to say10 said ,turnbull1 after reflection1 8that ,i don't like all this80 8,and will you permit me to say10 said the other1 with a snap1 8that ,i don't like ,mr4 ,evan ,mac,ian80 ,somewhat to the speaker's surprise this did not inflame the sensitive sceptic2 he had the air of thinking thoroughly1 and then he said3 8,no1 ,i don't think it's my friend ,mac,ian that taught me that4 ,i think ,i should always have said that ,i don't like this4 ,these people have rights40 8,rights60 repeated the unknown in a tone quite indescribable4 ,then he added with a more open sneer3 8,perhaps they also have souls40 8,they have lives60 said ,turnbull1 sternly2 8that is quite enough for me4 ,i understood you to say that you thought life sacred40 8,yes1 indeed60 cried his mentor with a sort of idealistic animation4 8,yes1 indeed6 ,life is sacred--but lives are not sacred4 ,we are improving ,life by removing lives4 ,can you1 as a free-thinker1 find any fault in that80 8,yes10 said ,turnbull with brevity4 8,yet you applaud tyrannicide10 said the stranger with rationalistic gaiety4 8,how inconsistent6 ,it really comes to this3 ,you approve of taking away life from those to whom it is a triumph and a pleasure4 ,but you will not take away life from those to whom it is a burden and a toil40 ,turnbull rose to his feet in the car with considerable deliberation1 but his face seemed oddly pale4 ,the other went on with enthusiasm4 8,life1 yes1 ,life is indeed sacred60 he cried2 8but new lives for old6 ,good lives for bad6 ,on that very place where now there sprawls one drunken wastrel of a pavement artist more or less wishing he were dead--on that very spot there shall in the future be living pictures2 there shall be golden girls and boys leaping in the sun40 ,turnbull1 still standing up1 opened his lips4 8,will you put me down1 please80 he said1 quite calmly1 like on stopping an omnibus4 8,put you down--what do you mean80 cried his leader4 8,i am taking you to the front of the revolutionary war1 where you will be one of the first of the revolutionary leaders40 8,thank you10 replied ,turnbull with the same painful constraint4 8,i have heard about your revolutionary war1 and ,i think on the whole that ,i would rather be anywhere else40 8,do you want to be taken to a monastery10 snarled the other1 8with ,mac,ian and his winking ,madonnas40 8,i want to be taken to a madhouse10 said ,turnbull distinctly1 giving the direction with a sort of precision4 8,i want to go back to exactly the same lunatic asylum from which ,i came40 8,why80 asked the unknown4 8,because ,i want a little sane and wholesome society10 answered ,turnbull4 ,there was a long and peculiar silence1 and then the man driving the flying machine said quite coolly3 8,i won't take you back40 ,and then ,turnbull said equally coolly3 8,then ,i'll jump out of the car40 ,the unknown rose to his full height1 and the expression in his eyes seemed to be made of ironies behind ironies1 as two mirrors infinitely reflect each other4 ,at last he said1 very gravely3 8,do you think ,i am the devil80 8,yes10 said ,turnbull1 violently4 8,for ,i think the devil is a dream1 and so are you4 ,i don't believe in you or your flying ship or your last fight of the world4 ,it is all a nightmare4 ,i say as a fact of dogma and faith that it is all a nightmare4 ,and ,i will be a martyr for my faith as much as ,st4 ,catherine1 for ,i will jump out of this ship and risk waking up safe in bed40 ,after swaying twice with the swaying vessel he dived over the side as one dives into the sea4 ,for some incredible moments stars and space and planets seemed to shoot up past him as the sparks fly upward2 and yet in that sickening descent he was full of some unnatural happiness4 ,he could connect it with no idea except one that half escaped him--what ,evan had said of the difference between ,christ and ,satan2 that it was by ,christ's own choice that ,he descended into hell4 ,when he again realized anything1 he was lying on his elbow on the lawn of the lunatic asylum1 and the last red of the sunset had not yet disappeared4 ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,idiot ,evan ,mac,ian was standing a few yards off looking at him in absolute silence4 ,he had not the moral courage to ask ,mac,ian if there had been anything astounding in the manner of his coming there1 nor did ,mac,ian seem to have any question to ask1 or perhaps any need to ask it4 ,the two men came slowly towards each other1 and found the same expression on each other's faces4 ,then1 for the first time in all their acquaintance1 they shook hands4 ,almost as if this were a kind of unconscious signal1 it brought ,dr4 ,quayle bounding out of a door and running across the lawn4 8,oh1 there you are60 he exclaimed with a relieved giggle4 8,will you come inside1 please8 ,i want to speak to you both40 ,they followed him into his shiny wooden office where their damning record was kept4 ,dr4 ,quayle sat down on a swivel chair and swung round to face them4 ,his carved smile had suddenly disappeared4 8,i will be plain with you gentlemen10 he said1 abruptly2 8you know quite well we do our best for everybody here4 ,your cases have been under special consideration1 and the ,master himself has decided that you ought to be treated specially and--er--under somewhat simpler conditions40 8,you mean treated worse1 ,i suppose10 said ,turnbull1 gruffly4 ,the doctor did not reply1 and ,mac,ian said3 8,i expected this40 ,his eyes had begun to glow4 ,the doctor answered1 looking at his desk and playing with a key3 8,well1 in certain cases that give anxiety--it is often better----0 8,give anxiety10 said ,turnbull1 fiercely4 8,confound your impudence6 ,what do you mean8 ,you imprison two perfectly sane men in a madhouse because you have made up a long word4 ,they take it in good temper1 walk and talk in your garden like monks who have found a vocation1 are civil even to you1 you damned druggists' hack6 ,behave not only more sanely than any of your patients1 but more sanely than half the sane men outside1 and you have the soul-stifling cheek to say that they give anxiety40 8,the head of the asylum has settled it all10 said ,dr4 ,quayle1 still looking down4 ,mac,ian took one of his immense strides forward and stood over the doctor with flaming eyes4 8,if the head has settled it let the head announce it10 he said4 8,i won't take it from you4 ,i believe you to be a low1 gibbering degenerate4 ,let us see the head of the asylum40 8,see the head of the asylum10 repeated ,dr4 ,quayle4 8,certainly not40 ,the tall ,highlander1 bending over him1 put one hand on his shoulder with fatherly interest4 8,you don't seem to appreciate the peculiar advantages of my position as a lunatic10 he said4 8,i could kill you with my left hand before such a rat as you could so much as squeak4 ,and ,i wouldn't be hanged for it40 8,i certainly agree with ,mr4 ,mac,ian10 said ,turnbull with sobriety and perfect respectfulness1 8that you had better let us see the head of the institution40 ,dr4 ,quayle got to his feet in a mixture of sudden hysteria and clumsy presence of mind4 8,oh1 certainly10 he said with a weak laugh4 8,you can see the head of the asylum if you particularly want to40 ,he almost ran out of the room1 and the two followed swiftly on his flying coat tails4 ,he knocked at an ordinary varnished door in the corridor4 ,when a voice said1 8,come in10 ,mac,ian's breath went hissing back through his teeth into his chest4 ,turnbull was more impetuous1 and opened the door4 ,it was a neat and well-appointed room entirely lined with a medical library4 ,at the other end of it was a ponderous and polished desk with an incandescent lamp on it1 the light of which was just sufficient to show a slender1 well-bred figure in an ordinary medical black frock-coat1 whose head1 quite silvered with age1 was bent over neat piles of notes4 ,this gentleman looked up for an instant as they entered1 and the lamplight fell on his glittering spectacles and long1 clean-shaven face--a face which would have been simply like an aristocrat's but that a certain lion poise of the head and long cleft in the chin made it look more like a very handsome actor's4 ,it was only for a flash that his face was thus lifted4 ,then he bent his silver head over his notes once more1 and said1 without looking up again3 8,i told you1 ,dr4 ,quayle1 that these men were to go to cells ,b and ,c40 ,turnbull and ,mac,ian looked at each other1 and said more than they could ever say with tongues or swords4 ,among other things they said that to that particular ,head of the institution it was a waste of time to appeal1 and they followed ,dr4 ,quayle out of the room4 ,the instant they stepped out into the corridor four sturdy figures stepped from four sides1 pinioned them1 and ran them along the galleries4 ,they might very likely have thrown their captors right and left had they been inclined to resist1 but for some nameless reason they were more inclined to laugh4 ,a mixture of mad irony with childish curiosity made them feel quite inclined to see what next twist would be taken by their imbecile luck4 ,they were dragged down countless cold avenues lined with glazed tiles1 different only in being of different lengths and set at different angles4 ,they were so many and so monotonous that to escape back by them would have been far harder than fleeing from the ,hampton ,court maze4 ,only the fact that windows grew fewer1 coming at longer intervals1 and the fact that when the windows did come they seemed shadowed and let in less light1 showed that they were winding into the core or belly of some enormous building4 ,after a little time the glazed corridors began to be lit by electricity4 ,at last1 when they had walked nearly a mile in those white and polished tunnels1 they came with quite a shock to the futile finality of a cul-de-sac4 ,all that white and weary journey ended suddenly in an oblong space and a blank white wall4 ,but in the white wall there were two iron doors painted white on which were written1 respectively1 in neat black capitals ,b and ,c4 8,you go in here1 sir10 said the leader of the officials1 quite respectfully1 8and you in here40 ,but before the doors had clanged upon their dazed victims1 ,mac,ian had been able to say to ,turnbull with a strange drawl of significance3 8,i wonder who ,a is40 ,turnbull made an automatic struggle before he allowed himself to be thrown into the cell4 ,hence it happened that he was the last to enter1 and was still full of the exhilaration of the adventures for at least five minutes after the echo of the clanging door had died away4 ,then1 when silence had sunk deep and nothing happened for two and a half hours1 it suddenly occurred to him that this was the end of his life4 ,he was hidden and sealed up in this little crack of stone until the flesh should fall off his bones4 ,he was dead1 and the world had won4 ,his cell was of an oblong shape1 but very long in comparison with its width4 ,it was just wide enough to permit the arms to be fully extended with the dumb-bells1 which were hung up on the left wall1 very dusty4 ,it was1 however1 long enough for a man to walk one thirty-fifth part of a mile if he traversed it entirely4 ,on the same principle a row of fixed holes1 quite close together1 let in to the cells by pipes what was alleged to be the freshest air4 ,for these great scientific organizers insisted that a man should be healthy even if he was miserable4 ,they provided a walk long enough to give him exercise and holes large enough to give him oxygen4 ,there their interest in human nature suddenly ceased4 ,it seemed never to have occurred to them that the benefit of exercise belongs partly to the benefit of liberty4 ,they had not entertained the suggestion that the open air is only one of the advantages of the open sky4 ,they administered air in secret1 but in sufficient doses1 as if it were a medicine4 ,they suggested walking1 as if no man had ever felt inclined to walk4 ,above all1 the asylum authorities insisted on their own extraordinary cleanliness4 ,every morning1 while ,turnbull was still half asleep on his iron bedstead which was lifted half-way up the wall and clamped to it with iron1 four sluices or metal mouths opened above him at the four corners of the chamber and washed it white of any defilement4 ,turnbull's solitary soul surged up against this sickening daily solemnity4 8,i am buried alive60 he cried1 bitterly2 8they have hidden me under mountains4 ,i shall be here till ,i rot4 ,why the blazes should it matter to them whether ,i am dirty or clean40 ,every morning and evening an iron hatchway opened in his oblong cell1 and a brown hairy hand or two thrust in a plate of perfectly cooked lentils and a big bowl of cocoa4 ,he was not underfed any more than he was underexercised or asphyxiated4 ,he had ample walking space1 ample air1 ample and even filling food4 ,the only objection was that he had nothing to walk towards1 nothing to feast about1 and no reason whatever for drawing the breath of life4 ,even the shape of his cell especially irritated him4 ,it was a long1 narrow parallelogram1 which had a flat wall at one end and ought to have had a flat wall at the other2 but that end was broken by a wedge or angle of space1 like the prow of a ship4 ,after three days of silence and cocoa1 this angle at the end began to infuriate ,turnbull4 ,it maddened him to think that two lines came together and pointed at nothing4 ,after the fifth day he was reckless1 and poked his head into the corner4 ,after twenty-five days he almost broke his head against it4 ,then he became quite cool and stupid again1 and began to examine it like a sort of ,robinson ,crusoe4 ,almost unconsciously it was his instinct to examine outlets1 and he found himself paying particular attention to the row of holes which let in the air into his last house of life4 ,he soon discovered that these air-holes were all the ends and mouths of long leaden tubes which doubtless carried air from some remote watering-place near ,margate4 ,one evening while he was engaged in the fifth investigation he noticed something like twilight in one of these dumb mouths1 as compared with the darkness of the others4 ,thrusting his finger in as far as it would go1 he found a hole and flapping edge in the tube4 ,this he rent open and instantly saw a light behind2 it was at least certain that he had struck some other cell4 ,it is a characteristic of all things now called 8efficient01 which means mechanical and calculated1 that if they go wrong at all they go entirely wrong4 ,there is no power of retrieving a defeat1 as in simpler and more living organisms4 ,a strong gun can conquer a strong elephant1 but a wounded elephant can easily conquer a broken gun4 ,thus the ,prussian monarchy in the eighteenth century1 or now1 can make a strong army merely by making the men afraid4 ,but it does it with the permanent possibility that the men may some day be more afraid of their enemies than of their officers4 ,thus the drainage in our cities so long as it is quite solid means a general safety1 but if there is one leak it means concentrated poison--an explosion of deathly germs like dynamite1 a spirit of stink4 ,thus1 indeed1 all that excellent machinery which is the swiftest thing on earth in saving human labour is also the slowest thing on earth in resisting human interference4 ,it may be easier to get chocolate for nothing out of a shopkeeper than out of an automatic machine4 ,but if you did manage to steal the chocolate1 the automatic machine would be much less likely to run after you4 ,turnbull was not long in discovering this truth in connexion with the cold and colossal machinery of this great asylum4 ,he had been shaken by many spiritual states since the instant when he was pitched head foremost into that private cell which was to be his private room till death4 ,he had felt a high fit of pride and poetry1 which had ebbed away and left him deadly cold4 ,he had known a period of mere scientific curiosity1 in the course of which he examined all the tiles of his cell1 with the gratifying conclusion that they were all the same shape and size2 but was greatly puzzled about the angle in the wall at the end1 and also about an iron peg or spike that stood out from the wall1 the object of which he does not know to this day4 ,then he had a period of mere madness not to be written of by decent men1 but only by those few dirty novelists hallooed on by the infernal huntsman to hunt down and humiliate human nature4 ,this also passed1 but left behind it a feverish distaste for many of the mere objects around him4 ,long after he had returned to sanity and such hopeless cheerfulness as a man might have on a desert island1 he disliked the regular squares of the pattern of wall and floor and the triangle that terminated his corridor4 ,above all1 he had a hatred1 deep as the hell he did not believe in1 for the objectless iron peg in the wall4 ,but in all his moods1 sane or insane1 intolerant or stoical1 he never really doubted this3 that the machine held him as light and as hopelessly as he had from his birth been held by the hopeless cosmos of his own creed4 ,he knew well the ruthless and inexhaustible resources of our scientific civilization4 ,he no more expected rescue from a medical certificate than rescue from the solar system4 ,in many of his ,robinson ,crusoe moods he thought kindly of ,mac,ian as of some quarrelsome school-fellow who had long been dead4 ,he thought of leaving in the cell when he died a rigid record of his opinions1 and when he began to write them down on scraps of envelope in his pocket1 he was startled to discover how much they had changed4 ,then he remembered the ,beauchamp ,tower1 and tried to write his blazing scepticism on the wall1 and discovered that it was all shiny tiles on which nothing could be either drawn or carved4 ,then for an instant there hung and broke above him like a high wave the whole horror of scientific imprisonment1 which manages to deny a man not only liberty1 but every accidental comfort of bondage4 ,in the old filthy dungeons men could carve their prayers or protests in the rock4 ,here the white and slippery walls escaped even from bearing witness4 ,the old prisoners could make a pet of a mouse or a beetle strayed out of a hole4 ,here the unpierceable walls were washed every morning by an automatic sluice4 ,there was no natural corruption and no merciful decay by which a living thing could enter in4 ,then ,james ,turnbull looked up and saw the high invincible hatefulness of the society in which he lived1 and saw the hatefulness of something else also1 which he told himself again and again was not the cosmos in which he believed4 ,but all the time he had never once doubted that the five sides of his cell were for him the wall of the world henceforward1 and it gave him a shock of surprise even to discover the faint light through the aperture in the ventilation tube4 ,but he had forgotten how close efficiency has to pack everything together and how easily1 therefore1 a pipe here or there may leak4 ,turnbull thrust his first finger down the aperture1 and at last managed to make a slight further fissure in the piping4 ,the light that came up from beyond was very faint1 and apparently indirect2 it seemed to fall from some hole or window higher up4 ,as he was screwing his eye to peer at this grey and greasy twilight he was astonished to see another human finger very long and lean come down from above towards the broken pipe and hook it up to something higher4 ,the lighted aperture was abruptly blackened and blocked1 presumably by a face and mouth1 for something human spoke down the tube1 though the words were not clear4 8,who is that80 asked ,turnbull1 trembling with excitement1 yet wary and quite resolved not to spoil any chance4 ,after a few indistinct sounds the voice came down with a strong ,argyllshire accent3 8,i say1 ,turnbull1 we couldn't fight through this tube1 could we80 ,sentiments beyond speech surged up in ,turnbull and silenced him for a space just long enough to be painful4 ,then he said with his old gaiety3 8,i vote we talk a little first2 ,i don't want to murder the first man ,i have met for ten million years40 8,i know what you mean10 answered the other4 8,it has been awful4 ,for a mortal month ,i have been alone with ,god40 ,turnbull started1 and it was on the tip of his tongue to answer3 8,alone with ,god6 ,then you do not know what loneliness is40 ,but he answered1 after all1 in his old defiant style3 8,alone with ,god1 were you8 ,and ,i suppose you found his ,majesty's society rather monotonous80 8,oh1 no10 said ,mac,ian1 and his voice shuddered2 8it was a great deal too exciting40 ,after a very long silence the voice of ,mac,ian said3 8,what do you really hate most in your place80 8,you'd think ,i was really mad if ,i told you10 answered ,turnbull1 bitterly4 8,then ,i expect it's the same as mine10 said the other voice4 8,i am sure it's not the same as anybody's10 said ,turnbull1 8for it has no rhyme or reason4 ,perhaps my brain really has gone1 but ,i detest that iron spike in the left wall more than the damned desolation or the damned cocoa4 ,have you got one in your cell80 8,not now10 replied ,mac,ian with serenity4 8,i've pulled it out40 ,his fellow-prisoner could only repeat the words4 8,i pulled it out the other day when ,i was off my head10 continued the tranquil ,highland voice4 8,it looked so unnecessary40 8,you must be ghastly strong10 said ,turnbull4 8,one is1 when one is mad10 was the careless reply1 8and it had worn a little loose in the socket4 ,even now ,i've got it out ,i can't discover what it was for4 ,but ,i've found out something a long sight funnier40 8,what do you mean80 asked ,turnbull4 8,i have found out where ,a is10 said the other4 ,three weeks afterwards ,mac,ian had managed to open up communications which made his meaning plain4 ,by that time the two captives had fully discovered and demonstrated that weakness in the very nature of modern machinery to which we have already referred4 ,the very fact that they were isolated from all companions meant that they were free from all spies1 and as there were no gaolers to be bribed1 so there were none to be baffled4 ,machinery brought them their cocoa and cleaned their cells2 that machinery was as helpless as it was pitiless4 ,a little patient violence1 conducted day after day amid constant mutual suggestion1 opened an irregular hole in the wall1 large enough to let in a small man1 in the exact place where there had been before the tiny ventilation holes4 ,turnbull tumbled somehow into ,mac,ian's apartment1 and his first glance found out that the iron spike was indeed plucked from its socket1 and left1 moreover1 another ragged hole into some hollow place behind4 ,but for this ,mac,ian's cell was the duplicate of ,turnbull's--a long oblong ending in a wedge and lined with cold and lustrous tiles4 ,the small hole from which the peg had been displaced was in that short oblique wall at the end nearest to ,turnbull's4 ,that individual looked at it with a puzzled face4 8,what is in there80 he asked4 ,mac,ian answered briefly3 8,another cell40 8,but where can the door of it be80 said his companion1 even more puzzled2 8the doors of our cells are at the other end40 8,it has no door10 said ,evan4 ,in the pause of perplexity that followed1 an eerie and sinister feeling crept over ,turnbull's stubborn soul in spite of himself4 ,the notion of the doorless room chilled him with that sense of half-witted curiosity which one has when something horrible is half understood4 8,james ,turnbull10 said ,mac,ian1 in a low and shaken voice1 8these people hate us more than ,nero hated ,christians1 and fear us more than any man feared ,nero4 ,they have filled ,england with frenzy and galloping in order to capture us and wipe us out--in order to kill us4 ,and they have killed us1 for you and ,i have only made a hole in our coffins4 ,but though this hatred that they felt for us is bigger than they felt for ,bonaparte1 and more plain and practical than they would feel for ,jack the ,ripper1 yet it is not we whom the people of this place hate most40 ,a cold and quivering impatience continued to crawl up ,turnbull's spine2 he had never felt so near to superstition and supernaturalism1 and it was not a pretty sort of superstition either4 8,there is another man more fearful and hateful10 went on ,mac,ian1 in his low monotone voice1 8and they have buried him even deeper4 ,god knows how they did it1 for he was let in by neither door nor window1 nor lowered through any opening above4 ,i expect these iron handles that we both hate have been part of some damned machinery for walling him up4 ,he is there4 ,i have looked through the hole at him2 but ,i cannot stand looking at him long1 because his face is turned away from me and he does not move40 ,all ,turnbull's unnatural and uncompleted feelings found their outlet in rushing to the aperture and looking into the unknown room4 ,it was a third oblong cell exactly like the other two except that it was doorless1 and except that on one of the walls was painted a large black ,a like the ,b and ,c outside their own doors4 ,the letter in this case was not painted outside1 because this prison had no outside4 ,on the same kind of tiled floor1 of which the monotonous squares had maddened ,turnbull's eye and brain1 was sitting a figure which was startlingly short even for a child1 only that the enormous head was ringed with hair of a frosty grey4 ,the figure was draped1 both insecurely and insufficiently1 in what looked like the remains of a brown flannel dressing-gown2 an emptied cup of cocoa stood on the floor beside it1 and the creature had his big grey head cocked at a particular angle of inquiry or attention which amid all that gathering gloom and mystery struck one as comic if not cocksure4 ,after six still seconds ,turnbull could stand it no longer1 but called out to the dwarfish thing--in what words heaven knows4 ,the thing got up with the promptitude of an animal1 and turning round offered the spectacle of two owlish eyes and a huge grey-and-white beard not unlike the plumage of an owl4 ,this extraordinary beard covered him literally to his feet 7not that that was very far71 and perhaps it was as well that it did1 for portions of his remaining clothing seemed to fall off whenever he moved4 ,one talks trivially of a face like parchment1 but this old man's face was so wrinkled that it was like a parchment loaded with hieroglyphics4 ,the lines of his face were so deep and complex that one could see five or ten different faces besides the real one1 as one can see them in an elaborate wall-paper4 ,and yet while his face seemed like a scripture older than the gods1 his eyes were quite bright1 blue1 and startled like those of a baby4 ,they looked as if they had only an instant before been fitted into his head4 ,everything depended so obviously upon whether this buried monster spoke that ,turnbull did not know or care whether he himself had spoken4 ,he said something or nothing4 ,and then he waited for this dwarfish voice that had been hidden under the mountains of the world4 ,at last it did speak1 and spoke in ,english1 with a foreign accent that was neither ,latin nor ,teutonic4 ,he suddenly stretched out a long and very dirty forefinger1 and cried in a voice of clear recognition1 like a child's3 8,that's a hole40 ,he digested the discovery for some seconds1 sucking his finger1 and then he cried1 with a crow of laughter3 8,and that's a head come through it40 ,the hilarious energy in this idiot attitude gave ,turnbull another sick turn4 ,he had grown to tolerate those dreary and mumbling madmen who trailed themselves about the beautiful asylum gardens4 ,but there was something new and subversive of the universe in the combination of so much cheerful decision with a body without a brain4 8,why did they put you in such a place80 he asked at last with embarrassment4 8,good place4 ,yes10 said the old man1 nodding a great many times and beaming like a flattered landlord4 8,good shape4 ,long and narrow1 with a point4 ,like this10 and he made lovingly with his hands a map of the room in the air4 8,but that's not the best10 he added1 confidentially4 8,squares very good2 ,i have a nice long holiday1 and can count them4 ,but that's not the best40 8,what is the best80 asked ,turnbull in great distress4 8,spike is the best10 said the old man1 opening his blue eyes blazing2 8it sticks out40 ,the words ,turnbull spoke broke out of him in pure pity4 8,can't we do anything for you80 he said4 8,i am very happy10 said the other1 alphabetically4 8,you are a good man4 ,can ,i help you80 8,no1 ,i don't think you can1 sir10 said ,turnbull with rough pathos2 8,i am glad you are contented at least40 ,the weird old person opened his broad blue eyes and fixed ,turnbull with a stare extraordinarily severe4 8,you are quite sure10 he said1 8,i cannot help you80 8,quite sure1 thank you10 said ,turnbull with broken brevity4 8,good day40 ,then he turned to ,mac,ian who was standing close behind him1 and whose face1 now familiar in all its moods1 told him easily that ,evan had heard the whole of the strange dialogue4 8,curse those cruel beasts60 cried ,turnbull4 8,they've turned him to an imbecile just by burying him alive4 ,his brain's like a pin-point now40 8,you are sure he is a lunatic80 said ,evan1 slowly4 8,not a lunatic10 said ,turnbull1 8an idiot4 ,he just points to things and says that they stick out40 8,he had a notion that he could help us10 said ,mac,ian moodily1 and began to pace towards the other end of his cell4 8,yes1 it was a bit pathetic10 assented ,turnbull2 8such a ,thing offering help1 and besides---- ,hallo6 ,hallo6 ,what's the matter80 8,god ,almighty guide us all60 said ,mac,ian4 ,he was standing heavy and still at the other end of the room and staring quietly at the door which for thirty days had sealed them up from the sun4 ,turnbull1 following the other's eye1 stared at the door likewise1 and then he also uttered an exclamation4 ,the iron door was standing about an inch and a half open4 8,he said----0 began ,evan1 in a trembling voice--8he offered----0 8,come along1 you fool60 shouted ,turnbull with a sudden and furious energy4 8,i see it all now1 and it's the best stroke of luck in the world4 ,you pulled out that iron handle that had screwed up his cell1 and it somehow altered the machinery and opened all the doors40 ,seizing ,mac,ian by the elbow he bundled him bodily out into the open corridor and ran him on till they saw daylight through a half-darkened window4 8,all the same10 said ,evan1 like one answering in an ordinary conversation1 8he did ask you whether he could help you40 ,all this wilderness of windowless passages was so built into the heart of that fortress of fear that it seemed more than an hour before the fugitives had any good glimpse of the outer world4 ,they did not even know what hour of the day it was2 and when1 turning a corner1 they saw the bare tunnel of the corridor end abruptly in a shining square of garden1 the grass burning in that strong evening sunshine which makes it burnished gold rather than green1 the abrupt opening on to the earth seemed like a hole knocked in the wall of heaven4 ,only once or twice in life is it permitted to a man thus to see the very universe from outside1 and feel existence itself as an adorable adventure not yet begun4 ,as they found this shining escape out of that hellish labyrinth they both had simultaneously the sensation of being babes unborn1 of being asked by ,god if they would like to live upon the earth4 ,they were looking in at one of the seven gates of ,eden4 ,turnbull was the first to leap into the garden1 with an earth-spurning leap like that of one who could really spread his wings and fly4 ,mac,ian1 who came an instant after1 was less full of mere animal gusto and fuller of a more fearful and quivering pleasure in the clear and innocent flower colours and the high and holy trees4 ,with one bound they were in that cool and cleared landscape1 and they found just outside the door the black-clad gentleman with the cloven chin smilingly regarding them2 and his chin seemed to grow longer and longer as he smiled4 ,,xviii4 ,a ,,riddle ,,of ,,faces ,just behind him stood two other doctors3 one1 the familiar ,dr4 ,quayle1 of the blinking eyes and bleating voice2 the other1 a more commonplace but much more forcible figure1 a stout young doctor with short1 well-brushed hair and a round but resolute face4 ,at the sight of the escape these two subordinates uttered a cry and sprang forward1 but their superior remained motionless and smiling1 and somehow the lack of his support seemed to arrest and freeze them in the very gesture of pursuit4 8,let them be10 he cried in a voice that cut like a blade of ice2 and not only of ice1 but of some awful primordial ice that had never been water4 8,i want no devoted champions10 said the cutting voice2 8even the folly of one's friends bores one at last4 ,you don't suppose ,i should have let these lunatics out of their cells without good reason4 ,i have the best and fullest reason4 ,they can be let out of their cell today1 because today the whole world has become their cell4 ,i will have no more medieval mummery of chains and doors4 ,let them wander about the earth as they wandered about this garden1 and ,i shall still be their easy master4 ,let them take the wings of the morning and abide in the uttermost parts of the sea--,i am there4 ,whither shall they go from my presence and whither shall they flee from my spirit8 ,courage1 ,dr4 ,quayle1 and do not be downhearted2 the real days of tyranny are only beginning on this earth40 ,and with that the ,master laughed and swung away from them1 almost as if his laugh was a bad thing for people to see4 8,might ,i speak to you a moment80 said ,turnbull1 stepping forward with a respectful resolution4 ,but the shoulders of the ,master only seemed to take on a new and unexpected angle of mockery as he strode away4 ,turnbull swung round with great abruptness to the other two doctors1 and said1 harshly3 8,what in snakes does he mean--and who are you80 8,my name is ,hutton10 said the short1 stout man1 8and ,i am--well1 one of those whose business it is to uphold this establishment40 8,my name is ,turnbull10 said the other2 8,i am one of those whose business it is to tear it to the ground40 ,the small doctor smiled1 and ,turnbull's anger seemed suddenly to steady him4 8,but ,i don't want to talk about that10 he said1 calmly2 8,i only want to know what the ,master of this asylum really means40 ,dr4 ,hutton's smile broke into a laugh which1 short as it was1 had the suspicion of a shake in it4 8,i suppose you think that quite a simple question10 he said4 8,i think it a plain question10 said ,turnbull1 8and one that deserves a plain answer4 ,why did the ,master lock us up in a couple of cupboards like jars of pickles for a mortal month1 and why does he now let us walk free in the garden again80 8,i understand10 said ,hutton1 with arched eyebrows1 8that your complaint is that you are now free to walk in the garden40 8,my complaint is10 said ,turnbull1 stubbornly1 8that if ,i am fit to walk freely now1 ,i have been as fit for the last month4 ,no one has examined me1 no one has come near me4 ,your chief says that ,i am only free because he has made other arrangements4 ,what are those arrangements80 ,the young man with the round face looked down for a little while and smoked reflectively4 ,the other and elder doctor had gone pacing nervously by himself upon the lawn4 ,at length the round face was lifted again1 and showed two round blue eyes with a certain frankness in them4 8,well1 ,i don't see that it can do any harm to tell you know10 he said4 8,you were shut up just then because it was just during that month that the ,master was bringing off his big scheme4 ,he was getting his bill through ,parliament1 and organizing the new medical police4 ,but of course you haven't heard of all that2 in fact1 you weren't meant to40 8,heard of all what80 asked the impatient inquirer4 8,there's a new law now1 and the asylum powers are greatly extended4 ,even if you did escape now1 any policeman would take you up in the next town if you couldn't show a certificate of sanity from us40 8,well10 continued ,dr4 ,hutton1 8the ,master described before both ,houses of ,parliament the real scientific objection to all existing legislation about lunacy4 ,as he very truly said1 the mistake was in supposing insanity to be merely an exception or an extreme4 ,insanity1 like forgetfulness1 is simply a quality which enters more or less into all human beings2 and for practical purposes it is more necessary to know whose mind is really trustworthy than whose has some accidental taint4 ,we have therefore reversed the existing method1 and people now have to prove that they are sane4 ,in the first village you entered1 the village constable would notice that you were not wearing on the left lapel of your coat the small pewter ,s which is now necessary to any one who walks about beyond asylum bounds or outside asylum hours40 8,you mean to say10 said ,turnbull1 8that this was what the ,master of the asylum urged before the ,house of ,commons80 ,dr4 ,hutton nodded with gravity4 8,and you mean to say10 cried ,turnbull1 with a vibrant snort1 8that that proposal was passed in an assembly that calls itself democratic80 ,the doctor showed his whole row of teeth in a smile4 8,oh1 the assembly calls itself ,socialist now10 he said1 8,but we explained to them that this was a question for men of science40 ,turnbull gave one stamp upon the gravel1 then pulled himself together1 and resumed3 8,but why should your infernal head medicine-man lock us up in separate cells while he was turning ,england into a madhouse8 ,i'm not the ,prime ,minister2 we're not the ,house of ,lords40 8,he wasn't afraid of the ,prime ,minister10 replied ,dr4 ,hutton2 8he isn't afraid of the ,house of ,lords4 ,but----0 8,well80 inquired ,turnbull1 stamping again4 8,he is afraid of you10 said ,hutton1 simply4 8,why1 didn't you know80 ,mac,ian1 who had not spoken yet1 made one stride forward and stood with shaking limbs and shining eyes4 8,he was afraid60 began ,evan1 thickly4 8,you mean to say that we----0 8,i mean to say the plain truth now that the danger is over10 said ,hutton1 calmly2 8most certainly you two were the only people he ever was afraid of40 ,then he added in a low but not inaudible voice3 8,except one--whom he feared worse1 and has buried deeper40 8,come away10 cried ,mac,ian1 8this has to be thought about40 ,turnbull followed him in silence as he strode away1 but just before he vanished1 turned and spoke again to the doctors4 8,but what has got hold of people80 he asked1 abruptly4 8,why should all ,england have gone dotty on the mere subject of dottiness80 ,dr4 ,hutton smiled his open smile once more and bowed slightly4 8,as to that also10 he replied1 8,i don't want to make you vain40 ,turnbull swung round without a word1 and he and his companion were lost in the lustrous leafage of the garden4 ,they noticed nothing special about the scene1 except that the garden seemed more exquisite than ever in the deepening sunset1 and that there seemed to be many more people1 whether patients or attendants1 walking about in it4 ,from behind the two black-coated doctors as they stood on the lawn another figure somewhat similarly dressed strode hurriedly past them1 having also grizzled hair and an open flapping frock-coat4 ,both his decisive step and dapper black array marked him out as another medical man1 or at least a man in authority1 and as he passed ,turnbull the latter was aroused by a strong impression of having seen the man somewhere before4 ,it was no one that he knew well1 yet he was certain that it was someone at whom he had at sometime or other looked steadily4 ,it was neither the face of a friend nor of an enemy2 it aroused neither irritation nor tenderness1 yet it was a face which had for some reason been of great importance in his life4 ,turning and returning1 and making detours about the garden1 he managed to study the man's face again and again--a moustached1 somewhat military face with a monocle1 the sort of face that is aristocratic without being distinguished4 ,turnbull could not remember any particular doctors in his decidedly healthy existence4 ,was the man a long-lost uncle1 or was he only somebody who had sat opposite him regularly in a railway train8 ,at that moment the man knocked down his own eye-glass with a gesture of annoyance2 ,turnbull remembered the gesture1 and the truth sprang up solid in front of him4 ,the man with the moustaches was ,cumberland ,vane1 the ,london police magistrate before whom he and ,mac,ian had once stood on their trial4 ,the magistrate must have been transferred to some other official duties--to something connected with the inspection of asylums4 ,turnbull's heart gave a leap of excitement which was half hope4 ,as a magistrate ,mr4 ,cumberland ,vane had been somewhat careless and shallow1 but certainly kindly1 and not inaccessible to common sense so long as it was put to him in strictly conventional language4 ,he was at least an authority of a more human and refreshing sort than the crank with the wagging beard or the fiend with the forked chin4 ,he went straight up to the magistrate1 and said3 8,good evening1 ,mr4 ,vane2 ,i doubt if you remember me40 ,cumberland ,vane screwed the eye-glass into his scowling face for an instant1 and then said curtly but not uncivilly3 8,yes1 ,i remember you1 sir2 assault or battery1 wasn't it8--a fellow broke your window4 ,a tall fellow--,mc,something--case made rather a noise afterwards40 8,mac,ian is the name1 sir10 said ,turnbull1 respectfully2 8,i have him here with me40 8,eh60 said ,vane very sharply4 8,confound him6 ,has he got anything to do with this game80 8,mr4 ,vane10 said ,turnbull1 pacifically1 8,i will not pretend that either he or ,i acted quite decorously on that occasion4 ,you were very lenient with us1 and did not treat us as criminals when you very well might4 ,so ,i am sure you will give us your testimony that1 even if we were criminals1 we are not lunatics in any legal or medical sense whatever4 ,i am sure you will use your influence for us40 8,my influence60 repeated the magistrate1 with a slight start4 8,i don't quite understand you40 8,i don't know in what capacity you are here10 continued ,turnbull1 gravely1 8but a legal authority of your distinction must certainly be here in an important one4 ,whether you are visiting and inspecting the place1 or attached to it as some kind of permanent legal adviser1 your opinion must still----0 ,cumberland ,vane exploded with a detonation of oaths2 his face was transfigured with fury and contempt1 and yet in some odd way he did not seem specially angry with ,turnbull4 8,but ,lord bless us and save us60 he gasped1 at length2 8,i'm not here as an official at all4 ,i'm here as a patient4 ,the cursed pack of rat-catching chemists all say that ,i've lost my wits40 8,you60 cried ,turnbull with terrible emphasis4 8,you6 ,lost your wits60 ,in the rush of his real astonishment at this towering unreality ,turnbull almost added3 8,why1 you haven't got any to lose40 ,but he fortunately remembered the remains of his desperate diplomacy4 8,this can't go on10 he said1 positively4 8,men like ,mac,ian and ,i may suffer unjustly all our lives1 but a man like you must have influence40 8,there is only one man who has any influence in ,england now10 said ,vane1 and his high voice fell to a sudden and convincing quietude4 8,whom do you mean80 asked ,turnbull4 8,i mean that cursed fellow with the long split chin10 said the other4 8,is it really true10 asked ,turnbull1 8that he has been allowed to buy up and control such a lot8 ,what put the country into such a state80 ,mr4 ,cumberland ,vane laughed outright4 8,what put the country into such a state80 he asked4 8,why1 you did4 ,when you were fool enough to agree to fight ,mac,ian1 after all1 everybody was ready to believe that the ,bank of ,england might paint itself pink with white spots40 8,i don't understand10 answered ,turnbull4 8,why should you be surprised at my fighting8 ,i hope ,i have always fought40 8,well10 said ,cumberland ,vane1 airily1 8you didn't believe in religion1 you see--so we thought you were safe at any rate4 ,you went further in your language than most of us wanted to go2 no good in just hurting one's mother's feelings1 ,i think4 ,but of course we all knew you were right1 and1 really1 we relied on you40 8,did you80 said the editor of ,the ,atheist with a bursting heart4 8,i am sorry you did not tell me so at the time40 ,he walked away very rapidly and flung himself on a garden seat1 and for some six minutes his own wrongs hid from him the huge and hilarious fact that ,cumberland ,vane had been locked up as a lunatic4 ,the garden of the madhouse was so perfectly planned1 and answered so exquisitely to every hour of daylight1 that one could almost fancy that the sunlight was caught there tangled in its tinted trees1 as the wise men of ,gotham tried to chain the spring to a bush4 ,or it seemed as if this ironic paradise still kept its unique dawn or its special sunset while the rest of the earthly globe rolled through its ordinary hours4 ,there was one evening1 or late afternoon1 in particular1 which ,evan ,mac,ian will remember in the last moments of death4 ,it was what artists call a daffodil sky1 but it is coarsened even by reference to a daffodil4 ,it was of that innocent lonely yellow which has never heard of orange1 though it might turn quite unconsciously into green4 ,against it the tops1 one might say the turrets1 of the clipt and ordered trees were outlined in that shade of veiled violet which tints the tops of lavender4 ,a white early moon was hardly traceable upon that delicate yellow4 ,mac,ian1 ,i say1 will remember this tender and transparent evening1 partly because of its virgin gold and silver1 and partly because he passed beneath it through the most horrible instant of his life4 ,turnbull was sitting on his seat on the lawn1 and the golden evening impressed even his positive nature1 as indeed it might have impressed the oxen in a field4 ,he was shocked out of his idle mood of awe by seeing ,mac,ian break from behind the bushes and run across the lawn with an action he had never seen in the man before1 with all his experience of the eccentric humours of this ,celt4 ,mac,ian fell on the bench1 shaking it so that it rattled1 and gripped it with his knees like one in dreadful pain of body4 ,that particular run and tumble is typical only of a man who has been hit by some sudden and incurable evil1 who is bitten by a viper or condemned to be hanged4 ,turnbull looked up in the white face of his friend and enemy1 and almost turned cold at what he saw there4 ,he had seen the blue but gloomy eyes of the western ,highlander troubled by as many tempests as his own west ,highland seas1 but there had always been a fixed star of faith behind the storms4 ,now the star had gone out1 and there was only misery4 ,yet ,mac,ian had the strength to answer the question where ,turnbull1 taken by surprise1 had not the strength to ask it4 8,they are right1 they are right60 he cried4 8,o my ,god6 they are right1 ,turnbull4 ,i ought to be here60 ,he went on with shapeless fluency as if he no longer had the heart to choose or check his speech4 8,i suppose ,i ought to have guessed long ago--all my big dreams and schemes--and everyone being against us--but ,i was stuck up1 you know40 8,do tell me about it1 really10 cried the atheist1 and1 faced with the furnace of the other's pain1 he did not notice that he spoke with the affection of a father4 8,i am mad1 ,turnbull10 said ,evan1 with a dead clearness of speech1 and leant back against the garden seat4 8,nonsense10 said the other1 clutching at the obvious cue of benevolent brutality1 8this is one of your silly moods40 ,mac,ian shook his head4 8,i know enough about myself10 he said1 8to allow for any mood1 though it opened heaven or hell4 ,but to see things--to see them walking solid in the sun--things that can't be there--real mystics never do that1 ,turnbull40 8,what things80 asked the other1 incredulously4 ,mac,ian lowered his voice4 8,i saw her10 he said1 8three minutes ago--walking here in this hell yard40 ,between trying to look scornful and really looking startled1 ,turnbull's face was confused enough to emit no speech1 and ,evan went on in monotonous sincerity3 8,i saw her walk behind those blessed trees against that holy sky of gold as plain as ,i can see her whenever ,i shut my eyes4 ,i did shut them1 and opened them again1 and she was still there--that is1 of course1 she wasn't---- ,she still had a little fur round her neck1 but her dress was a shade brighter than when ,i really saw her40 8,my dear fellow10 cried ,turnbull1 rallying a hearty laugh1 8the fancies have really got hold of you4 ,you mistook some other poor girl here for her40 8,mistook some other----0 said ,mac,ian1 and words failed him altogether4 ,they sat for some moments in the mellow silence of the evening garden1 a silence that was stifling for the sceptic1 but utterly empty and final for the man of faith4 ,at last he broke out again with the words3 8,well1 anyhow1 if ,i'm mad1 ,i'm glad ,i'm mad on that40 ,turnbull murmured some clumsy deprecation1 and sat stolidly smoking to collect his thoughts2 the next instant he had all his nerves engaged in the mere effort to sit still4 ,across the clear space of cold silver and a pale lemon sky which was left by the gap in the ilex-trees there passed a slim1 dark figure1 a profile and the poise of a dark head like a bird's1 which really pinned him to his seat with the point of coincidence4 ,with an effort he got to his feet1 and said with a voice of affected insouciance3 8,by ,george6 ,mac,ian1 she is uncommonly like----0 8,what60 cried ,mac,ian1 with a leap of eagerness that was heart-breaking1 8do you see her1 too80 ,and the blaze came back into the centre of his eyes4 ,turnbull's tawny eyebrows were pulled together with a peculiar frown of curiosity1 and all at once he walked quickly across the lawn4 ,mac,ian sat rigid1 but peered after him with open and parched lips4 ,he saw the sight which either proved him sane or proved the whole universe half-witted2 he saw the man of flesh approach that beautiful phantom1 saw their gestures of recognition1 and saw them against the sunset joining hands4 ,he could stand it no longer1 but ran across to the path1 turned the corner and saw standing quite palpable in the evening sunlight1 talking with a casual grace to ,turnbull1 the face and figure which had filled his midnights with frightfully vivid or desperately half-forgotten features4 ,she advanced quite pleasantly and coolly1 and put out her hand4 ,the moment that he touched it he knew that he was sane even if the solar system was crazy4 ,she was entirely elegant and unembarrassed4 ,that is the awful thing about women--they refuse to be emotional at emotional moments1 upon some such ludicrous pretext as there being someone else there4 ,but ,mac,ian was in a condition of criticism much less than the average masculine one1 being in fact merely overturned by the rushing riddle of the events4 ,evan does not know to this day what particular question he asked1 but he vividly remembers that she answered1 and every line or fluctuation of her face as she said it4 8,oh1 don't you know80 she said1 smiling1 and suddenly lifting her level brown eyebrows4 8,haven't you heard the news8 ,i'm a lunatic40 ,then she added after a short pause1 and with a sort of pride3 8,i've got a certificate40 ,her manner1 by the matchless social stoicism of her sex1 was entirely suited to a drawing-room1 but ,evan's reply fell somewhat far short of such a standard1 as he only said3 8,what the devil in hell does all this nonsense mean80 8,really10 said the young lady1 and laughed4 8,i beg your pardon10 said the unhappy young man1 rather wildly1 8but what ,i mean is1 why are you here in an asylum80 ,the young woman broke again into one of the maddening and mysterious laughs of femininity4 ,then she composed her features1 and replied with equal dignity3 8,well1 if it comes to that1 why are you80 ,the fact that ,turnbull had strolled away and was investigating rhododendrons may have been due to ,evan's successful prayers to the other world1 or possibly to his own pretty successful experience of this one4 ,but though they two were as isolated as a new ,adam and ,eve in a pretty ornamental ,eden1 the lady did not relax by an inch the rigour of her badinage4 8,i am locked up in the madhouse10 said ,evan1 with a sort of stiff pride1 8because ,i tried to keep my promise to you40 8,quite so10 answered the inexplicable lady1 nodding with a perfectly blazing smile1 8and ,i am locked up because it was to me you promised40 8,it is outrageous60 cried ,evan2 8it is impossible60 8,oh1 you can see my certificate if you like10 she replied with some hauteur4 ,mac,ian stared at her and then at his boots1 and then at the sky and then at her again4 ,he was quite sure now that he himself was not mad1 and the fact rather added to his perplexity4 ,then he drew nearer to her1 and said in a dry and dreadful voice3 8,oh1 don't condescend to play the fool with such a fool as me4 ,are you really locked up here as a patient--because you helped us to escape80 8,yes10 she said1 still smiling1 but her steady voice had a shake in it4 ,evan flung his big elbow across his forehead and burst into tears4 ,the pure lemon of the sky faded into purer white as the great sunset silently collapsed4 ,the birds settled back into the trees2 the moon began to glow with its own light4 ,mr4 ,james ,turnbull continued his botanical researches into the structure of the rhododendron4 ,but the lady did not move an inch until ,evan had flung up his face again2 and when he did he saw by the last gleam of sunlight that it was not only his face that was wet4 ,mr4 ,james ,turnbull had all his life professed a profound interest in physical science1 and the phenomena of a good garden were really a pleasure to him2 but after three-quarters of an hour or so even the apostle of science began to find rhododendrus a bore1 and was somewhat relieved when an unexpected development of events obliged him to transfer his researches to the equally interesting subject of hollyhocks1 which grew some fifty feet farther along the path4 ,the ostensible cause of his removal was the unexpected reappearance of his two other acquaintances walking and talking laboriously along the way1 with the black head bent close to the brown one4 ,even hollyhocks detained ,turnbull but a short time4 ,having rapidly absorbed all the important principles affecting the growth of those vegetables1 he jumped over a flower-bed and walked back into the building4 ,the other two came up along the slow course of the path talking and talking4 ,no one but ,god knows what they said 7for they certainly have forgotten71 and if ,i remembered it ,i would not repeat it4 ,when they parted at the head of the walk she put out her hand again in the same well-bred way1 although it trembled2 he seemed to restrain a gesture as he let it fall4 8,if it is really always to be like this10 he said1 thickly1 8it would not matter if we were here for ever40 8,you tried to kill yourself four times for me10 she said1 unsteadily1 8and ,i have been chained up as a madwoman for you4 ,i really think that after that----0 8,yes1 ,i know10 said ,evan in a low voice1 looking down4 8,after that we belong to each other4 ,we are sort of sold to each other--until the stars fall40 ,then he looked up suddenly1 and said3 8,by the way1 what is your name80 8,my name is ,beatrice ,drake10 she replied with complete gravity4 8,you can see it on my certificate of lunacy40 ,,xix4 ,,the ,,last ,,parley ,turnbull walked away1 wildly trying to explain to himself the presence of two personal acquaintances so different as ,vane and the girl4 ,as he skirted a low hedge of laurel1 an enormously tall young man leapt over it1 stood in front of him1 and almost fell on his neck as if seeking to embrace him4 8,don't you know me80 almost sobbed the young man1 who was in the highest spirits4 8,ain't ,i written on your heart1 old boy8 ,i say1 what did you do with my yacht80 8,take your arms off my neck10 said ,turnbull1 irritably4 8,are you mad80 ,the young man sat down on the gravel path and went into ecstasies of laughter4 8,no1 that's just the fun of it--,i'm not mad10 he replied4 8,they've shut me up in this place1 and ,i'm not mad40 ,and he went off again into mirth as innocent as wedding-bells4 ,turnbull1 whose powers of surprise were exhausted1 rolled his round grey eyes and said1 8,mr4 ,wilkinson1 ,i think10 because he could not think of anything else to say4 ,the tall man sitting on the gravel bowed with urbanity1 and said3 8,quite at your service4 ,not to be confused with the ,wilkinsons of ,cumberland2 and as ,i say1 old boy1 what have you done with my yacht8 ,you see1 they've locked me up here--in this garden--and a yacht would be a sort of occupation for an unmarried man40 8,i am really horribly sorry10 began ,turnbull1 in the last stage of bated bewilderment and exasperation1 8but really----0 8,oh1 ,i can see you can't have it on you at the moment10 said ,mr4 ,wilkinson with much intellectual magnanimity4 8,well1 the fact is----0 began ,turnbull again1 and then the phrase was frozen on his mouth1 for round the corner came the goatlike face and gleaming eye-glasses of ,dr4 ,quayle4 8,ah1 my dear ,mr4 ,wilkinson10 said the doctor1 as if delighted at a coincidence2 8and ,mr4 ,turnbull1 too4 ,why1 ,i want to speak to ,mr4 ,turnbull40 ,mr4 ,turnbull made some movement rather of surrender than assent1 and the doctor caught it up exquisitely1 showing even more of his two front teeth4 8,i am sure ,mr4 ,wilkinson will excuse us a moment40 ,and with flying frock-coat he led ,turnbull rapidly round the corner of a path4 8,my dear sir10 he said1 in a quite affectionate manner1 8,i do not mind telling you--you are such a very hopeful case--you understand so well the scientific point of view2 and ,i don't like to see you bothered by the really hopeless cases4 ,they are monotonous and maddening4 ,the man you have just been talking to1 poor fellow1 is one of the strongest cases of pure idee fixe that we have4 ,it's very sad1 and ,i'm afraid utterly incurable4 ,he keeps on telling everybody0--and the doctor lowered his voice confidentially--8he tells everybody that two people have taken is yacht4 ,his account of how he lost it is quite incoherent40 ,turnbull stamped his foot on the gravel path1 and called out3 8,oh1 ,i can't stand this4 ,really----0 8,i know1 ,i know10 said the psychologist1 mournfully2 8it is a most melancholy case1 and also fortunately a very rare one4 ,it is so rare1 in fact1 that in one classification of these maladies it is entered under a heading by itself--,perdinavititis1 mental inflammation creating the impression that one has lost a ship4 ,really10 he added1 with a kind of half-embarrassed guilt1 8it's rather a feather in my cap4 ,i discovered the only existing case of perdinavititis40 8,but this won't do1 doctor10 said ,turnbull1 almost tearing his hair1 8this really won't do4 ,the man really did lose a ship4 ,indeed1 not to put too fine a point on it1 ,i took his ship40 ,dr4 ,quayle swung round for an instant so that his silk-lined overcoat rustled1 and stared singularly at ,turnbull4 ,then he said with hurried amiability3 8,why1 of course you did4 ,quite so1 quite so10 and with courteous gestures went striding up the garden path4 ,under the first laburnum-tree he stopped1 however1 and pulling out his pencil and notebook wrote down feverishly3 8,singular development in the ,elenthero-maniac1 ,turnbull4 ,sudden manifestation of ,rapinavititis--the delusion that one has stolen a ship4 ,first case ever recorded40 ,turnbull stood for an instant staggered into stillness4 ,then he ran raging round the garden to find ,mac,ian1 just as a husband1 even a bad husband1 will run raging to find his wife if he is full of a furious query4 ,he found ,mac,ian stalking moodily about the half-lit garden1 after his extraordinary meeting with ,beatrice4 ,no one who saw his slouching stride and sunken head could have known that his soul was in the seventh heaven of ecstasy4 ,he did not think2 he did not even very definitely desire4 ,he merely wallowed in memories1 chiefly in material memories2 words said with a certain cadence or trivial turns of the neck or wrist4 ,into the middle of his stationary and senseless enjoyment were thrust abruptly the projecting elbow and the projecting red beard of ,turnbull4 ,mac,ian stepped back a little1 and the soul in his eyes came very slowly to its windows4 ,when ,james ,turnbull had the glittering sword-point planted upon his breast he was in far less danger4 ,for three pulsating seconds after the interruption ,mac,ian was in a mood to have murdered his father4 ,and yet his whole emotional anger fell from him when he saw ,turnbull's face1 in which the eyes seemed to be bursting from the head like bullets4 ,all the fire and fragrance even of young and honourable love faded for a moment before that stiff agony of interrogation4 8,are you hurt1 ,turnbull80 he asked1 anxiously4 8,i am dying10 answered the other quite calmly4 8,i am in the quite literal sense of the words dying to know something4 ,i want to know what all this can possibly mean40 ,mac,ian did not answer1 and he continued with asperity3 8,you are still thinking about that girl1 but ,i tell you the whole thing is incredible4 ,she's not the only person here4 ,i've met the fellow ,wilkinson1 whose yacht we lost4 ,i've met the very magistrate you were hauled up to when you broke my window4 ,what can it mean--meeting all these old people again8 ,one never meets such old friends again except in a dream40 ,then after a silence he cried with a rending sincerity3 8,are you really there1 ,evan8 ,have you ever been really there8 ,am ,i simply dreaming80 ,mac,ian had been listening with a living silence to every word1 and now his face flamed with one of his rare revelations of life4 8,no1 you good atheist10 he cried2 8no1 you clean1 courteous1 reverent1 pious old blasphemer4 ,no1 you are not dreaming--you are waking up40 8,what do you mean80 8,there are two states where one meets so many old friends10 said ,mac,ian2 8one is a dream1 the other is the end of the world40 8,and you say----0 8,i say this is not a dream10 said ,evan in a ringing voice4 8,you really mean to suggest----0 began ,turnbull4 8,be silent6 or ,i shall say it all wrong10 said ,mac,ian1 breathing hard4 8,it's hard to explain1 anyhow4 ,an apocalypse is the opposite of a dream4 ,a dream is falser than the outer life4 ,but the end of the world is more actual than the world it ends4 ,i don't say this is really the end of the world1 but it's something like that--it's the end of something4 ,all the people are crowding into one corner4 ,everything is coming to a point40 8,what is the point80 asked ,turnbull4 8,i can't see it10 said ,evan2 8it is too large and plain40 ,then after a silence he said3 8,i can't see it--and yet ,i will try to describe it4 ,turnbull1 three days ago ,i saw quite suddenly that our duel was not right after all40 8,three days ago60 repeated ,turnbull4 8,when and why did this illumination occur80 8,i knew ,i was not quite right10 answered ,evan1 8the moment ,i saw the round eyes of that old man in the cell40 8,old man in the cell60 repeated his wondering companion4 8,do you mean the poor old idiot who likes spikes to stick out80 8,yes10 said ,mac,ian1 after a slight pause1 8,i mean the poor old idiot who likes spikes to stick out4 ,when ,i saw his eyes and heard his old croaking accent1 ,i knew that it would not really have been right to kill you4 ,it would have been a venial sin40 8,i am much obliged10 said ,turnbull1 gruffly4 8,you must give me time10 said ,mac,ian1 quite patiently1 8for ,i am trying to tell the whole truth4 ,i am trying to tell more of it than ,i know40 8,so you see ,i confess0--he went on with laborious distinctness--8,i confess that all the people who called our duel mad were right in a way4 ,i would confess it to old ,cumberland ,vane and his eye-glass4 ,i would confess it even to that old ass in brown flannel who talked to us about ,love4 ,yes1 they are right in a way4 ,i am a little mad40 ,he stopped and wiped his brow as if he were literally doing heavy labour4 ,then he went on3 8,i am a little mad2 but1 after all1 it is only a little madness4 ,when hundreds of high-minded men had fought duels about a jostle with the elbow or the ace of spades1 the whole world need not have gone wild over my one little wildness4 ,plenty of other people have killed themselves between then and now4 ,but all ,england has gone into captivity in order to take us captive4 ,all ,england has turned into a lunatic asylum in order to prove us lunatics4 ,compared with the general public1 ,i might positively be called sane40 ,he stopped again1 and went on with the same air of travailing with the truth3 8,when ,i saw that1 ,i saw everything2 ,i saw the ,church and the world4 ,the ,church in its earthly action has really touched morbid things--tortures and bleeding visions and blasts of extermination4 ,the ,church has had her madnesses1 and ,i am one of them4 ,i am the massacre of ,st4 ,bartholomew4 ,i am the ,inquisition of ,spain4 ,i do not say that we have never gone mad1 but ,i say that we are fit to act as keepers to our enemies4 ,massacre is wicked even with a provocation1 as in the ,bartholomew4 ,but your modern ,nietzsche will tell you that massacre would be glorious without a provocation4 ,torture should be violently stopped1 though the ,church is doing it4 ,but your modern ,tolstoy will tell you that it ought not to be violently stopped whoever is doing it4 ,in the long run1 which is most mad--the ,church or the world8 ,which is madder1 the ,spanish priest who permitted tyranny1 or the ,prussian sophist who admired it8 ,which is madder1 the ,russian priest who discourages righteous rebellion1 or the ,russian novelist who forbids it8 ,that is the final and blasting test4 ,the world left to itself grows wilder than any creed4 ,a few days ago you and ,i were the maddest people in ,england4 ,now1 by ,god6 ,i believe we are the sanest4 ,that is the only real question--whether the ,church is really madder than the world4 ,let the rationalists run their own race1 and let us see where they end4 ,if the world has some healthy balance other than ,god1 let the world find it4 ,does the world find it8 ,cut the world loose10 he cried with a savage gesture4 8,does the world stand on its own end8 ,does it stand1 or does it stagger80 ,turnbull remained silent1 and ,mac,ian said to him1 looking once more at the earth3 8,it staggers1 ,turnbull4 ,it cannot stand by itself2 you know it cannot4 ,it has been the sorrow of your life4 ,turnbull1 this garden is not a dream1 but an apocalyptic fulfilment4 ,this garden is the world gone mad40 ,turnbull did not move his head1 and he had been listening all the time2 yet1 somehow1 the other knew that for the first time he was listening seriously4 8,the world has gone mad10 said ,mac,ian1 8and it has gone mad about ,us4 ,the world takes the trouble to make a big mistake about every little mistake made by the ,church4 ,that is why they have turned ten counties to a madhouse2 that is why crowds of kindly people are poured into this filthy melting-pot4 ,now is the judgement of this world4 ,the ,prince of this ,world is judged1 and he is judged exactly because he is judging4 ,there is at last one simple solution to the quarrel between the ball and the cross----0 ,turnbull for the first time started4 8,the ball and----0 he repeated4 8,what is the matter with you80 asked ,mac,ian4 8,i had a dream10 said ,turnbull1 thickly and obscurely1 8in which ,i saw the cross struck crooked and the ball secure----0 8,i had a dream10 said ,mac,ian1 8in which ,i saw the cross erect and the ball invisible4 ,they were both dreams from hell4 ,there must be some round earth to plant the cross upon4 ,but here is the awful difference--that the round world will not consent even to continue round4 ,the astronomers are always telling us that it is shaped like an orange1 or like an egg1 or like a ,german sausage4 ,they beat the old world about like a bladder and thump it into a thousand shapeless shapes4 ,turnbull1 we cannot trust the ball to be always a ball2 we cannot trust reason to be reasonable4 ,in the end the great terrestrial globe will go quite lop-sided1 and only the cross will stand upright40 ,there was a long silence1 and then ,turnbull said1 hesitatingly3 8,has it occurred to you that since--since those two dreams1 or whatever they were----0 8,well80 murmured ,mac,ian4 8,since then10 went on ,turnbull1 in the same low voice1 8since then we have never even looked for our swords40 8,you are right10 answered ,evan almost inaudibly4 8,we have found something which we both hate more than we ever hated each other1 and ,i think ,i know its name40 ,turnbull seemed to frown and flinch for a moment4 8,it does not much matter what you call it10 he said1 8so long as you keep out of its way40 ,the bushes broke and snapped abruptly behind them1 and a very tall figure towered above ,turnbull with an arrogant stoop and a projecting chin1 a chin of which the shape showed queerly even in its shadow upon the path4 8,you see that is not so easy10 said ,mac,ian between his teeth4 ,they looked up into the eyes of the ,master1 but looked only for a moment4 ,the eyes were full of a frozen and icy wrath1 a kind of utterly heartless hatred4 ,his voice was for the first time devoid of irony4 ,there was no more sarcasm in it than there is in an iron club4 8,you will be inside the building in three minutes10 he said1 with pulverizing precision1 8or you will be fired on by the artillery at all the windows4 ,there is too much talking in this garden2 we intend to close it4 ,you will be accommodated indoors40 8,ah60 said ,mac,ian1 with a long and satisfied sigh1 8then ,i was right40 ,and he turned his back and walked obediently towards the building4 ,turnbull seemed to canvass for a few minutes the notion of knocking the ,master down1 and then fell under the same almost fairy fatalism as his companion4 ,in some strange way it did seem that the more smoothly they yielded1 the more swiftly would events sweep on to some great collision4 ,,xx4 ,,dies ,,irae ,as they advanced towards the asylum they looked up at its rows on rows of windows1 and understood the ,master's material threat4 ,by means of that complex but concealed machinery which ran like a network of nerves over the whole fabric1 there had been shot out under every window-ledge rows and rows of polished-steel cylinders1 the cold miracles of modern gunnery4 ,they commanded the whole garden and the whole country-side1 and could have blown to pieces an army corps4 ,this silent declaration of war had evidently had its complete effect4 ,as ,mac,ian and ,turnbull walked steadily but slowly towards the entrance hall of the institution1 they could see that most1 or at least many1 of the patients had already gathered there as well as the staff of doctors and the whole regiment of keepers and assistants4 ,but when they entered the lamp-lit hall1 and the high iron door was clashed to and locked behind them1 yet a new amazement leapt into their eyes1 and the stalwart ,turnbull almost fell4 ,for he saw a sight which was indeed1 as ,mac,ian had said--either the ,day of ,judgement or a dream4 ,within a few feet of him at one corner of the square of standing people stood the girl he had known in ,jersey1 ,madeleine ,durand4 ,she looked straight at him with a steady smile which lit up the scene of darkness and unreason like the light of some honest fireside4 ,her square face and throat were thrown back1 as her habit was1 and there was something almost sleepy in the geniality of her eyes4 ,he saw her first1 and for a few seconds saw her only2 then the outer edge of his eyesight took in all the other staring faces1 and he saw all the faces he had ever seen for weeks and months past4 ,there was the ,tolstoyan in ,jaeger flannel1 with the yellow beard that went backward and the foolish nose and eyes that went forward1 with the curiosity of a crank4 ,he was talking eagerly to ,mr4 ,gordon1 the corpulent ,jew shopkeeper whom they had once gagged in his own shop4 ,there was the tipsy old ,hertfordshire rustic2 he was talking energetically to himself4 ,there was not only ,mr4 ,vane the magistrate1 but the clerk of ,mr4 ,vane1 the magistrate4 ,there was not only ,miss ,drake of the motor-car1 but also ,miss ,drake's chauffeur4 ,nothing wild or unfamiliar could have produced upon ,turnbull such a nightmare impression as that ring of familiar faces4 ,yet he had one intellectual shock which was greater than all the others4 ,he stepped impulsively forward towards ,madeleine1 and then wavered with a kind of wild humility4 ,as he did so he caught sight of another square face behind ,madeleine's1 a face with long grey whiskers and an austere stare4 ,it was old ,durand1 the girls' father2 and when ,turnbull saw him he saw the last and worst marvel of that monstrous night4 ,he remembered ,durand2 he remembered his monotonous1 everlasting lucidity1 his stupefyingly sensible views of everything1 his colossal contentment with truisms merely because they were true4 8,confound it all60 cried ,turnbull to himself1 8if he is in the asylum1 there can't be anyone outside40 ,he drew nearer to ,madeleine1 but still doubtfully and all the more so because she still smiled at him4 ,mac,ian had already gone across to ,beatrice with an air of fright4 ,then all these bewildered but partly amicable recognitions were cloven by a cruel voice which always made all human blood turn bitter4 ,the ,master was standing in the middle of the room surveying the scene like a great artist looking at a completed picture4 ,handsome as he looked1 they had never seen so clearly what was really hateful in his face2 and even then they could only express it by saying that the arched brows and the long emphatic chin gave it always a look of being lit from below1 like the face of some infernal actor4 8,this is indeed a cosy party10 he said1 with glittering eyes4 ,the ,master evidently meant to say more1 but before he could say anything ,m4 ,durand had stepped right up to him and was speaking4 ,he was speaking exactly as a ,french bourgeois speaks to the manager of a restaurant4 ,that is1 he spoke with rattling and breathless rapidity1 but with no incoherence1 and therefore with no emotion4 ,it was a steady1 monotonous vivacity1 which came not seemingly from passion1 but merely from the reason having been sent off at a gallop4 ,he was saying something like this3 8,you refuse me my half-bottle of ,medoc1 the drink the most wholesome and the most customary4 ,you refuse me the company and obedience of my daughter1 which ,nature herself indicates4 ,you refuse me the beef and mutton1 without pretence that it is a fast of the ,church4 ,you now forbid me the promenade1 a thing necessary to a person of my age4 ,it is useless to tell me that you do all this by law4 ,law rests upon the social contract4 ,if the citizen finds himself despoiled of such pleasures and powers as he would have had even in the savage state1 the social contract is annulled40 8,it's no good chattering away1 ,monsieur10 said ,hutton1 for the ,master was silent4 8,the place is covered with machine-guns4 ,we've got to obey our orders1 and so have you40 8,the machinery is of the most perfect10 assented ,durand1 somewhat irrelevantly2 8worked by petroleum1 ,i believe4 ,i only ask you to admit that if such things fall below the comfort of barbarism1 the social contract is annulled4 ,it is a pretty little point of theory40 8,oh6 ,i dare say10 said ,hutton4 ,durand bowed quite civilly and withdrew4 8,a cosy party10 resumed the ,master1 scornfully1 8and yet ,i believe some of you are in doubt about how we all came together4 ,i will explain it1 ladies and gentlemen2 ,i will explain everything4 ,to whom shall ,i specially address myself8 ,to ,mr4 ,james ,turnbull4 ,he has a scientific mind40 ,turnbull seemed to choke with sudden protest4 ,the ,master seemed only to cough out of pure politeness and proceeded3 8,mr4 ,turnbull will agree with me10 he said1 8when ,i say that we long felt in scientific circles that great harm was done by such a legend as that of the ,crucifixion40 ,turnbull growled something which was presumably assent4 ,the ,master went on smoothly3 8,it was in vain for us to urge that the incident was irrelevant2 that there were many such fanatics1 many such executions4 ,we were forced to take the thing thoroughly in hand1 to investigate it in the spirit of scientific history1 and with the assistance of ,mr4 ,turnbull and others we were happy in being able to announce that this alleged ,crucifixion never occurred at all40 ,mac,ian lifted his head and looked at the ,master steadily1 but ,turnbull did not look up4 8,this1 we found1 was the only way with all superstitions10 continued the speaker2 8it was necessary to deny them historically1 and we have done it with great success in the case of miracles and such things4 ,now within our own time there arose an unfortunate fuss which threatened 7as ,mr4 ,turnbull would say7 to galvanize the corpse of ,christianity into a fictitious life--the alleged case of a ,highland eccentric who wanted to fight for the ,virgin40 ,mac,ian1 quite white1 made a step forward1 but the speaker did not alter his easy attitude or his flow of words4 8,again we urged that this duel was not to be admired1 that it was a mere brawl1 but the people were ignorant and romantic4 ,there were signs of treating this alleged ,highlander and his alleged opponent as heroes4 ,we tried all other means of arresting this reactionary hero worship4 ,working men who betted on the duel were imprisoned for gambling4 ,working men who drank the health of a duellist were imprisoned for drunkenness4 ,but the popular excitement about the alleged duel continued1 and we had to fall back on our old historical method4 ,we investigated1 on scientific principles1 the story of ,mac,ian's challenge1 and we are happy to be able to inform you that the whole story of the attempted duel is a fable4 ,there never was any challenge4 ,there never was any man named ,mac,ian4 ,it is a melodramatic myth1 like ,calvary40 ,not a soul moved save ,turnbull1 who lifted his head2 yet there was the sense of a silent explosion4 8,the whole story of the ,mac,ian challenge10 went on the ,master1 beaming at them all with a sinister benignity1 8has been found to originate in the obsessions of a few pathological types1 who are now all fortunately in our care4 ,there is1 for instance1 a person here of the name of ,gordon1 formerly the keeper of a curiosity shop4 ,he is a victim of the disease called ,vinculomania--the impression that one has been bound or tied up4 ,we have also a case of ,fugacity 7,mr4 ,whimpey71 who imagines that he was chased by two men40 ,the indignant faces of the ,jew shopkeeper and the ,magdalen ,don started out of the crowd in their indignation1 but the speaker continued3 8,one poor woman we have with us10 he said1 in a compassionate voice1 8believes she was in a motor-car with two such men2 this is the well-known illusion of speed on which ,i need not dwell4 ,another wretched woman has the simple egotistic mania that she has caused the duel4 ,madeleine ,durand actually professes to have been the subject of the fight between ,mac,ian and his enemy1 a fight which1 if it occurred at all1 certainly began long before4 ,but it never occurred at all4 ,we have taken in hand every person who professed to have seen such a thing1 and proved them all to be unbalanced4 ,that is why they are here40 ,the ,master looked round the room1 just showing his perfect teeth with the perfection of artistic cruelty1 exalted for a moment in the enormous simplicity of his success1 and then walked across the hall and vanished through an inner door4 ,his two lieutenants1 ,quayle and ,hutton1 were left standing at the head of the great army of servants and keepers4 8,i hope we shall have no more trouble10 said ,dr4 ,quayle pleasantly enough1 and addressing ,turnbull1 who was leaning heavily upon the back of a chair4 ,still looking down1 ,turnbull lifted the chair an inch or two from the ground4 ,then he suddenly swung it above his head and sent it at the inquiring doctor with an awful crash which sent one of its wooden legs loose along the floor and crammed the doctor gasping into a corner4 ,mac,ian gave a great shout1 snatched up the loose chair-leg1 and1 rushing on the other doctor1 felled him with a blow4 ,twenty attendants rushed to capture the rebels2 ,mac,ian flung back three of them and ,turnbull went over on top of one1 when from behind them all came a shriek as of something quite fresh and frightful4 ,two of the three passages leading out of the hall were choked with blue smoke4 ,another instant and the hall was full of the fog of it1 and red sparks began to swarm like scarlet bees4 8,the place is on fire60 cried ,quayle with a scream of indecent terror4 8,oh1 who can have done it8 ,how can it have happened80 ,a light had come into ,turnbull's eyes4 8,how did the ,french ,revolution happen80 he asked4 8,oh1 how should ,i know60 wailed the other4 8,then ,i will tell you10 said ,turnbull2 8it happened because some people fancied that a ,french grocer was as respectable as he looked40 ,even as he spoke1 as if by confirmation1 old ,mr4 ,durand re-entered the smoky room quite placidly1 wiping the petroleum from his hands with a handkerchief4 ,he had set fire to the building in accordance with the strict principles of the social contract4 ,but ,mac,ian had taken a stride forward and stood there shaken and terrible4 8,now10 he cried1 panting1 8now is the judgement of the world4 ,the doctors will leave this place2 the keepers will leave this place4 ,they will leave us in charge of the machinery and the machine-guns at the windows4 ,but we1 the lunatics1 will wait to be burned alive if only we may see them go40 8,how do you know we shall go80 asked ,hutton1 fiercely4 8,you believe nothing10 said ,mac,ian1 simply1 8and you are insupportably afraid of death40 8,so this is suicide10 sneered the doctor2 8a somewhat doubtful sign of sanity40 8,not at all--this is vengeance10 answered ,turnbull1 quite calmly2 8a thing which is completely healthy40 8,you think the doctors will go10 said ,hutton1 savagely4 8,the keepers have gone already10 said ,turnbull4 ,even as they spoke the main doors were burst open in mere brutal panic1 and all the officers and subordinates of the asylum rushed away across the garden pursued by the smoke4 ,but among the ticketed maniacs not a man or woman moved4 8,we hate dying10 said ,turnbull1 with composure1 8but we hate you even more4 ,this is a successful revolution40 ,in the roof above their heads a panel shot back1 showing a strip of star-lit sky and a huge thing made of white metal1 with the shape and fins of a fish1 swinging as if at anchor4 ,at the same moment a steel ladder slid down from the opening and struck the floor1 and the cleft chin of the mysterious ,master was thrust into the opening4 8,quayle1 ,hutton10 he said1 8you will escape with me40 ,and they went up the ladder like automata of lead4 ,long after they had clambered into the car1 the creature with the cloven face continued to leer down upon the smoke-stung crowd below4 ,then at last he said in a silken voice and with a smile of final satisfaction3 8,by the way1 ,i fear ,i am very absent minded4 ,there is one man specially whom1 somehow1 ,i always forget4 ,i always leave him lying about4 ,once ,i mislaid him on the ,cross of ,st4 ,paul's4 ,so silly of me2 and now ,i've forgotten him in one of those little cells where your fire is burning4 ,very unfortunate--especially for him40 ,and nodding genially1 he climbed into his flying ship4 ,mac,ian stood motionless for two minutes1 and then rushed down one of the suffocating corridors till he found the flames4 ,turnbull looked once at ,madeleine1 and followed4 99 99 99 ,mac,ian1 with singed hair1 smoking garments1 and smarting hands and face1 had already broken far enough through the first barriers of burning timber to come within cry of the cells he had once known4 ,it was impossible1 however1 to see the spot where the old man lay dead or alive2 not now through darkness1 but through scorching and aching light4 ,the site of the old half-wit's cell was now the heart of a standing forest of fire--the flames as thick and yellow as a cornfield4 ,their incessant shrieking and crackling was like a mob shouting against an orator4 ,yet through all that deafening density ,mac,ian thought he heard a small and separate sound4 ,when he heard it he rushed forward as if to plunge into that furnace1 but ,turnbull arrested him by an elbow4 8,let me go60 cried ,evan1 in agony2 8it's the poor old beggar's voice--he's still alive1 and shouting for help40 8,listen60 said ,turnbull1 and lifted one finger from his clenched hand4 8,or else he is shrieking with pain10 protested ,mac,ian4 8,i will not endure it40 8,listen60 repeated ,turnbull1 grimly4 8,did you ever hear anyone shout for help or shriek with pain in that voice80 ,the small shrill sounds which came through the crash of the conflagration were indeed of an odd sort1 and ,mac,ian turned a face of puzzled inquiry to his companion4 8,he is singing10 said ,turnbull1 simply4 ,a remaining rampart fell1 crushing the fire1 and through the diminished din of it the voice of the little old lunatic came clearer4 ,in the heart of that white-hot hell he was singing like a bird4 ,what he was singing it was not very easy to follow1 but it seemed to be something about playing in the golden hay4 8,good ,lord60 cried ,turnbull1 bitterly1 8there seem to be some advantages in really being an idiot40 ,then advancing to the fringe of the fire he called out on chance to the invisible singer3 8,can you come out8 ,are you cut off80 8,god help us all60 said ,mac,ian1 with a shudder2 8he's laughing now40 ,at whatever stage of being burned alive the invisible now found himself1 he was now shaking out peals of silvery and hilarious laughter4 ,as he listened1 ,mac,ian's two eyes began to glow1 as if a strange thought had come into his head4 8,fool1 come out and save yourself60 shouted ,turnbull4 8,no1 by ,heaven6 that is not the way10 cried ,evan1 suddenly4 8,father10 he shouted1 8come out and save us all60 ,the fire1 though it had dropped in one or two places1 was1 upon the whole1 higher and more unconquerable than ever4 ,separate tall flames shot up and spread out above them like the fiery cloisters of some infernal cathedral1 or like a grove of red tropical trees in the garden of the devil4 ,higher yet in the purple hollow of the night the topmost flames leapt again and again fruitlessly at the stars1 like golden dragons chained but struggling4 ,the towers and domes of the oppressive smoke seemed high and far enough to drown distant planets in a ,london fog4 ,but if we exhausted all frantic similes for that frantic scene1 the main impression about the fire would still be its ranked upstanding rigidity and a sort of roaring stillness4 ,it was literally a wall of fire4 8,father10 cried ,mac,ian1 once more1 8come out of it and save us all60 ,turnbull was staring at him as he cried4 ,the tall and steady forest of fire must have been already a portent visible to the whole circle of land and sea4 ,the red flush of it lit up the long sides of white ships far out in the ,german ,ocean1 and picked out like piercing rubies the windows in the villages on the distant heights4 ,if any villagers or sailors were looking towards it they must have seen a strange sight as ,mac,ian cried out for the third time4 ,that forest of fire wavered1 and was cloven in the centre2 and then the whole of one half of it leaned one way as a cornfield leans all one way under the load of the wind4 ,indeed1 it looked as if a great wind had sprung up and driven the great fire aslant4 ,its smoke was no longer sent up to choke the stars1 but was trailed and dragged across county after county like one dreadful banner of defeat4 ,but it was not the wind2 or1 if it was the wind1 it was two winds blowing in opposite directions4 ,for while one half of the huge fire sloped one way towards the inland heights1 the other half1 at exactly the same angle1 sloped out eastward towards the sea4 ,so that earth and ocean could behold1 where there had been a mere fiery mass1 a thing divided like a ,v--a cloven tongue of flame4 ,but if it were a prodigy for those distant1 it was something beyond speech for those quite near4 ,as the echoes of ,evan's last appeal rang and died in the universal uproar1 the fiery vault over his head opened down the middle1 and1 reeling back in two great golden billows1 hung on each side as huge and harmless as two sloping hills lie on each side of a valley4 ,down the centre of this trough1 or chasm1 a little path ran1 cleared of all but ashes1 and down this little path was walking a little old man singing as if he were alone in a wood in spring4 ,when ,james ,turnbull saw this he suddenly put out a hand and seemed to support himself on the strong shoulder of ,madeleine ,durand4 ,then after a moment's hesitation he put his other hand on the shoulder of ,mac,ian4 ,his blue eyes looked extraordinarily brilliant and beautiful4 ,in many sceptical papers and magazines afterwards he was sadly or sternly rebuked for having abandoned the certainties of materialism4 ,all his life up to that moment he had been most honestly certain that materialism was a fact4 ,but he was unlike the writers in the magazines precisely in this--that he preferred a fact even to materialism4 ,as the little singing figure came nearer and nearer1 ,evan fell on his knees1 and after an instant ,beatrice followed2 then ,madeleine fell on her knees1 and after a longer instant ,turnbull followed4 ,then the little old man went past them singing down that corridor of flames4 ,they had not looked at his face4 ,when he had passed they looked up4 ,while the first light of the fire had shot east and west1 painting the sides of ships with fire-light or striking red sparks out of windowed houses1 it had not hitherto struck upward1 for there was above it the ponderous and rococo cavern of its own monstrous coloured smoke4 ,but now the fire was turned to left and right like a woman's hair parted in the middle1 and now the shafts of its light could shoot up into empty heavens and strike anything1 either bird or cloud4 ,but it struck something that was neither cloud nor bird4 ,far1 far away up in those huge hollows of space something was flying swiftly and shining brightly1 something that shone too bright and flew too fast to be any of the fowls of the air1 though the red light lit it from underneath like the breast of a bird4 ,everyone knew it was a flying ship1 and everyone knew whose4 ,as they stared upward the little speck of light seemed slightly tilted1 and two black dots dropped from the edge of it4 ,all the eager1 upturned faces watched the two dots as they grew bigger and bigger in their downward rush4 ,then someone screamed1 and no one looked up any more4 ,for the two bodies1 larger every second flying1 spread out and sprawling in the fire-light1 were the dead bodies of the two doctors whom ,professor ,lucifer had carried with him--the weak and sneering ,quayle1 the cold and clumsy ,hutton4 ,they went with a crash into the thick of the fire4 8,they are gone60 screamed ,beatrice1 hiding her head4 8,o ,god6 ,the are lost60 ,evan put his arm about her1 and remembered his own vision4 8,no1 they are not lost10 he said4 8,they are saved4 ,he has taken away no souls with him1 after all40 ,he looked vaguely about at the fire that was already fading1 and there among the ashes lay two shining things that had survived the fire1 his sword and ,turnbull's1 fallen haphazard in the pattern of a cross4