federal head and representative, and that she, therefore, was born in
sin. "I'm a sinner," she said, smiling; "we're all miserable sinners, you
know, Mr. Ward, and perhaps we all sin in original ways; but I don't
believe in original sin."

When he spoke of eternal punishment, she looked at him with grave
surprise in her calm brown eyes. "How can you think such a thing?" she
asked. "It seems to me a libel upon the goodness of God."

"But justice, Miss Jeffrey," he said anxiously; "surely we must
acknowledge the righteousness and justice of God's judgments."

"If you mean that God would send a soul to hell forever, if you call that
his judgment, it seems to me unrighteous and unjust. Truly, I can think
of no greater heresy, Mr. Ward, than to deny the love of God; and is not
that what you do when you say he is more cruel than even men could be?"

"But the Bible says"--he began, when she interrupted him.

"It does not seem worth while to say, 'the Bible says,'" she said,
smiling a little as she looked into his troubled face. "The Bible was the
history, and poetry, and politics of the Jews, as well as their code of
ethics and their liturgy; so that, unless we are prepared to believe in
its verbal inspiration, I don't see how we can say, as an argument, 'the
Bible says.'"

"And you do not believe in its verbal inspiration?" he said slowly.

"No," Helen answered, "I could not."