been trying to get Mandy to let me live on sour milk, because a great
doctor in Europe says we'll live longer if we do."

"How long would you care to live?"

"As long as I could. I've been reading up on all the religions and
all the substitutes, and it's going to take me some time to decide
which is best--for me, I mean. I don't presume to dictate to others."

"Which do you favour so far?"

"I was brought up on theology--great, big doses of it. I was taught
that God was everything and man was nothing. Now I'm willing to give
the Almighty credit for all his wonderful works, but I can't help
thinking that _man_ deserves some credit for his thousands of years
of labour. There's a man out in Chicago who has got up a religion
that he calls Manology. There's some good points in it, but he goes
too far to suit me. I've read about ghosts and spirits, but I've got
to see one before I take stock in them."

"I understand how you feel, Uncle. You have lost the two anchors
which make this life bearable. They are Faith and Hope. For them you
have substituted Reason--not the reason of others, or of the ages,
but your own personal opinion. Until you are satisfied, every one
else is wrong."

"Perhaps you're right, Alice. I can see now that my life has been
misspent. I should have remained at home and made my wife and
children happy. Instead, I became, virtually, a hermit, and for more
than twenty years I have thought only of myself and done nothing for