be considered rational when we, with open eyes, allow 'corners' on
foodstuffs, and permit 'wheat kings' to amass millions by corralling
the supply of grain and then raising the price to the point where the
poor washerwoman starves? Lord! We are a nation gone mad! The
existence of poverty in a country like America is not only proof
positive that our social system is rotten to the core, but that our
religion is equally so! As a people we deserve to be incarcerated in
asylums!"

"A considerable peroration, Ned," smiled Hitt. "And yet, one that I
can not refute. The only hope I see is in a radical change in the
mental attitude of the so-called enlightened class--and yet they are
the very worst offenders!"

"Sure! Doesn't the militia exist for men like Ames? To-day's work at
Avon proves it, I think!"

"Apparently so, Ned," returned Hitt sadly. "And the only possibility
of a change in enlightened people is through a better understanding of
what is really good and worth while. That means real, practical
Christianity. And of that Ames knows nothing."

"Seems to me, Hitt, that it ought to stagger our preachers to realize
that nineteen centuries of their brand of Christianity have scarcely
even begun to cleanse society. What do you suppose Borwell thinks,
anyway?"

"Ned, they still cling to human law as necessarily a compelling
influence in the shaping of mankind's moral nature."

"And go right on accepting the blood-stained money of criminal
business men who have had the misfortune to amass a million dollars!
And, more, they actually hold such men up as patterns for the youth to
emulate! As if the chief end of endeavor were to achieve the glorious
manhood of an Ames! And he a man who is deader than the corpses he
made at Avon to-day!"

"The world's ideal, my friend, has long been the man who succeeds in
everything except that which is worth while," replied Hitt. "But we
have been bidden to come out from the world, and be separate. Is it
not so?"

"Y--e--s, of course. But I can't take my thought from Avon--"

"And thereby you emphasize your belief in the reality of evil."

"Well--look at us! The Express stands for righteousness. And now we
are a dead duck!"

"Then, if that is so, why not resign your position, Ned? Go seek work
elsewhere."

"No, sir! Not while the Express has a leg to stand on! Your words are
an offense to me, sir!"

Hitt rose and clapped his friend heartily on the back. "Ned, old man!
You're a