rd!"

"They bring their love with them, sir, as the saying is."

"And as the saying also is, Benny, it would be more to the purpose if they
brought their boots and shoes. Man, you must have a nerve, to trust
Providence as you do!"

"It's a struggle, sir, as you can guess; but except to your kindness in
employing me, I am beholden to no man. I say it humbly--the Lord has been
kind to me."

Rosewarne looked up for a moment and with a curious eagerness, as though
on the point of putting a question. He suppressed it, however.

"It seems to me," he said slowly, "in this question of many children or
few there's a natural conflict between the private man and the citizen;
yes, that's how I put it--a natural conflict. I don't believe in Malthus
or any talk about over-population. A nation can't breed too many sons.
Sons are her strength, and if she is to whip her rivals it will be by the
big battalions. Therefore, as I argue it out, a good citizen should beget
many children. But now turn to the private side of it. A man wants to do
the best for his own; and whatever his income, he can do better for two
children than for half a dozen. To be sure, he mayn't turn 'em out as he
intended."--

Here Rosewarne paused for a while unwittingly, as his eyes fell on the
packet of letters in Mr. Benny's hand. The uppermost--the business
letter which he had just signed--was addressed to his only son.

"--But all the same," he went on, "he has fitted them out and given them
a better chance in the struggle for life. The devil takes the hindmost
in this world, Benny. I'd like to lend you a book of Darwin's--the
biggest book of this century, and a new gospel for the next to think out.
The conclusion is that the spoils go to the strongest. You may help a man
for the use you can make of him, but in the end every man's your natural
enemy."

"A terrible gospel, sir! I shall have to get along with the old one,
which says, 'Bear ye one another's burdens.'"

"I won't lend you the book. 'Twouldn't be fair to a man of your age, with
eleven children. And after all, as I said, the new gospel has a place for
patriots. They breed the raw material by which a nation crushes all
rivals; then, when the fighting is over, along comes your man with money
and a trained wit, and collars the spoils."

Mr. Benny stood shuffling his weight from one foot to the other.
"Even if yours were the last word in this world, sir, there's another to
recko