various kinds; what a thing gains in one direction it may lose in
another. May it not be that Mother Nature may deliberately encourage
decrease as well as increase--that it may be an axiom that what is gained
in concentration is lost in size? Take, for instance, monsters that
tradition has accepted and localised, such as the Worm of Lambton or that
of Spindleston Heugh. If such a creature were, by its own process of
metabolism, to change much of its bulk for intellectual growth, we should
at once arrive at a new class of creature--more dangerous, perhaps, than
the world has ever had any experience of--a force which can think, which
has no soul and no morals, and therefore no acceptance of responsibility.
A snake would be a good illustration of this, for it is cold-blooded, and
therefore removed from the temptations which often weaken or restrict
warm-blooded creatures. If, for instance, the Worm of Lambton--if such
ever existed--were guided to its own ends by an organised intelligence
capable of expansion, what form of creature could we imagine which would
equal it in potentialities of evil? Why, such a being would devastate a
whole country. Now, all these things require much thought, and we want
to apply the knowledge usefully, and we should therefore be exact. Would
it not be well to resume the subject later in the day?"

"I quite agree, sir. I am in a whirl already; and want to attend
carefully to what you say; so that I may try to digest it."

Both men seemed fresher and better for the "easy," and when they met in
the afternoon each of them had something to contribute to the general
stock of information. Adam, who was by nature of a more militant
disposition than his elderly friend, was glad to see that the conference
at once assumed a practical trend. Sir Nathaniel recognised this, and,
like an old diplomatist, turned it to present use.