Joe laughed a little.

"I do not know anything about politics here," she said, "though I do at
home, of course. I must say, though, Mr. Harrington did not seem so very
paradoxical."

"Oh no," answered Vancouver, blandly, "I did not mean in this case.
Harrington is very much in earnest. But it is like war, you see. When
every one understands it thoroughly, it will stop by universal consent.
Did you ever read Bulwer's 'Coming Race'?"

"Yes," said Joe. "I always read those books. _Vril_, and that sort of
thing, you mean? Oh yes."

"Approximately," answered Vancouver. "It was an allegory, you know. A
hundred years hence people will write a book to explain what Bulwer meant.
_Vril_ stands for the cumulative power of potential science, of
course."

"I think Bulwer's word shorter, and a good deal easier to understand,"
said Joe, laughing.

"It is a great thing to be great," remarked Miss Schenectady. "Sarah, I
think you might bring us some tea, please, and ask John if he couldn't
stir the furnace a little. And then to have people explain you. Goethe
must be a good deal amused, I expect, when people write books to prove
that Byron was Euphorion." Miss Schenectady was fond of German literature,
and the extent of her reading was a constant surprise to her niece.