line of
him, and had managed to get along quite well without him. Doubts arose
in Martin's mind, and had he been less strongly individual he would have
accepted the general opinion and given Herbert Spencer up. As it was, he
found Spencer's explanation of things convincing; and, as he phrased it
to himself, to give up Spencer would be equivalent to a navigator
throwing the compass and chronometer overboard. So Martin went on into a
thorough study of evolution, mastering more and more the subject himself,
and being convinced by the corroborative testimony of a thousand
independent writers. The more he studied, the more vistas he caught of
fields of knowledge yet unexplored, and the regret that days were only
twenty-four hours long became a chronic complaint with him.

One day, because the days were so short, he decided to give up algebra
and geometry. Trigonometry he had not even attempted. Then he cut
chemistry from his study-list, retaining only physics.

"I am not a specialist," he said, in defence, to Ruth. "Nor am I going
to try to be a specialist. There are too many special fields for any one
man, in a whole lifetime, to master a tithe of them. I must pursue
general knowledge. When I need the work of specialists, I shall refer to
their books."

"But that is not like having the knowledge yourself," she protested.

"But it is unnecessary to have it. We profit from the work of the
specialists. That's what they are for. When I came in, I noticed the
chimney-sweeps at work. They're specialists, and when they get done, you
will enjoy clean chimneys without knowing anything about the construction
of chimneys."

"That's far-fetched, I am afraid."

She looked at him curiously, and he felt a reproach in her gaze and
manner. But he was convinced of the rightness of his position.

"All thinkers on general subjects, the greatest minds in the world, in
fact, rely on the specialists. Herbert Spencer did that. He generalized
upon the findings of thousands of investigators. He would have had to
live a thousand lives in order to do it all himself. And so with Darwin.
He took advantage of all that had been learned by the florists and cattle-
breeders."

"You're right, Martin," Olney said. "You know what you're after, and
Ruth doesn't. She doesn't know what she is after for herself even."

"--Oh, yes," Olney rushed on, heading off her objection, "I know you call
it general culture. But it doesn't matte