Nonsense is the reverse side of the pattern--the tangled ends of the
thread that Wisdom weaves."

"There was a Miss Askew at the College," said the Girton Girl. "She
agreed with every one. With Marx she was a Socialist, with Carlyle
a believer in benevolent despotism, with Spinoza a materialist, with
Newman a fanatic. I had a long talk with her before she left, and
tried to understand her; she was an interesting girl. 'I think,'
she said, 'I could choose among them if only they would answer one
another. But they don't. They won't listen to one another. They
only repeat their own case.'"

"There never is an answer," explained the Philosopher. "The kernel
of every sincere opinion is truth. This life contains only the
questions--the solutions to be published in a future issue."

"She was a curious sort of young woman," smiled the Girton Girl; "we
used to laugh at her."

"I can quite believe it," commented the Philosopher.

"It is so like shopping," said the Old Maid.

"Like shopping!" exclaimed the Girton Girl.

The Old Maid blushed. "I was merely thinking," she said. "It
sounds foolish. The idea occurred to me."

"You were thinking of the difficulty of choosing?" I suggested.