"

"'E said 'e'd coom, sir," replied Ellen Mary. Her tone implied that
there was no appeal possible against her son's statement of his wishes.

V

"His methods do not lack terseness," remarked Lewes, when he and Challis
were out of earshot of the cottage.

"His methods and manners are damnable," said Challis, "but----"

"You were going to say?" prompted Lewes.

"Well, what is your opinion?"

"I am not convinced, as yet," said Lewes.

"Oh, surely," expostulated Challis.

"Not from objective, personal evidence. Let us put Crashaw out of our
minds for the moment."

"Very well; go on, state your case."

"He has, so far, made four remarks in our presence," said Lewes,
gesticulating with his walking stick. "Two of them can be neglected; his
repetition of your words, which he did not understand, and his
condescending promise to study your library."

"Yes; I'm with you, so far."

"Now, putting aside the preconception with which we entered the cottage,
was there really anything in the other two remarks? Were they not the
type of simple, unreasoning questions which one may often hear from the
mouth of a child of that age? 'What shall I learn from your books?'
Well, it is the natural question of the ignorant child, who has no
conception of the contents of books, no experience which would furnish
material for his imagination."

"Well?"

"The second remark is more explicable still. It is a remark we all make
in childhood, in some form or another. I remember quite well at the age
of six or seven asking my mother: 'Which is me, my soul or my body?' I
was brought up on the Church catechism. But you at once accepted these
questions--which, I maintain, were questions possible in the mouth of a
simple, ignorant child--in some deep, metaphysical acceptation. Don't
you think, sir, we should wait for further evidence before we attribute
any phenomenal intelligence to this child?"

"Quite the right attitude to take, Lewes--the scientific attitude,"
replied Challis. "Let's go by the lane," he added, as they reached the
entrance to the wood.

For some few minutes they walked in silence; Challis with his head down,
his heavy shoulders humped. His hands were clasped behind him, dragging
his stick as it were a tail, which he occasionally cocked. He walked
with a little stumble now and again, his eyes on the ground. Lewes
strode with a sure foot, his head up, and he slashed at the tangle of
last year's growth on the bank wh