meaning to all that was written in the Bible, and I think what I have
said about this dust or material man is this meaning; take for instance,
the first verse of chapter 3 of Genesis, which reads, _'Now the serpent
was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had
made, and he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said ye shall not eat of
every tree of the garden.'_ Now, father, who ever heard of a talking
snake. No one. It is only a myth, and I believe this snake was used to
symbolize the narrator's idea of evil, tempting the children of God,
Good, to do evil.

"Another illustration that this second narrative is metaphorically
written is in Genesis 2, 9th verse, which reads: _'And out of the
ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the
sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the
garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.'_ We can readily
agree that there is no tree that bears fruit called good and evil, so
this word 'tree' is used metaphorically, and stands for something quite
different."

Here Walter stopped and looked at his father to see what effect his
speech was having on him, also because he thought he had said enough
for one time. But his father was leaning slightly forward and had been
drinking in every word the boy was saying, as he was fully convinced
that his son did not of himself know all these things about the Bible,
and, consequently, it must be that he was inspired.

The mother had the same opinion, so did not care to interrupt him.

Walter continued looking from one to the other not knowing what to
make of their silence and the knowing look which passed between them,