somewhat inconsequently attempted to defend such imitation,
on the ground that sacrifice is a law of life, a law of which she had
just been bitterly complaining. But at this, the Professor would only
laugh. His opponent indignantly cited scientific authority of the most
solemn and weighty kind; the Professor shook his head. Familiarity with
weighty scientific authorities had bred contempt.

"Vicarious sacrifice!" he exclaimed, with a sudden outbreak of the scorn
and impatience that Hadria had seen in him on one other occasion, "I
never heard a doctrine more insane, more immoral, or more suicidal!"

Miss Du Prel hugged herself in the thought of her long list of scouted
authorities. They had assured her that our care of the weak, by
interfering with the survival of the fittest, is injuring the race.

"Go down into the slums of our great cities, or to the pestilential
East, and there observe the survival of the fittest, undisturbed by
human knowledge or human pity," recommended the Professor.

Miss Du Prel failed to see how this proved anything more than bad
general conditions.

"It proves that however bad general conditions may be, _some_ wretches
will always survive; the 'fittest,' of course, to endure filth and
misery. Selection goes on without ceasing; but if the conditions are
bad, the surviving type will be miserable. Mere unaided natural
selection obviously cannot be trusted to produce a fine race."

Nothing would convince Miss Du Prel that the preservation of weakly
persons was not injurious to the community. To this the Professor
replied, that what is lost by their salvation is more than paid back by
the better conditions that secured it. The strong, he said, were
strengthened and enabled to retain their strength by that which saves
the lives of the weak.

"Besides, do you suppose a race could gain, in the long run, by defiance
of its best instincts? Never! If the laws of health in body and in mind
were at variance, leaving us a hard choice between physical and moral
disease, then indeed no despair could be too black. But all experience
and all insight testify to the exact opposite. Heavens, how
short-sighted people are! It is not the protection of the weak, but the
evil and stupid deeds that have made them so, that we have to thank for
the miseries of disease. And for our redemption--powers of the universe!
it is not to the cowardly sacrifice of the unfortunate that we must
trust, but to a more brotherly