Murphy in him. Besides,
there were no schools in 1322 to teach Sir John Mandeville better. And
anyway, who was to contradict the fable? Sir John had been to the East
and the other people hadn't. Why shouldn't they believe what he and
other travelers told them?"

"He did sort of have them, didn't he?" grinned Carl.

"How long was it before the public stopped believing such a ridiculous
story?" demanded Mary.

"About three hundred years," answered her mother. "In the meantime much
traveling had been done by the peoples of all nations and learning had
made great strides. Scientific men began to whisper there could be no
such thing as the lamb of the Tartars; it was not possible. Cotton was
merely a plant. You can imagine what discussions such an assertion as
that raised. The public had come to like the notion of the Tartary lamb
and did not wish to give it up; besides, if the story were all a myth,
it put the travelers who had told it in a very bad light, and shook the
confidence of readers in some of the other tales they had published.
Science always upsets us. None of us like to be jolted out of the
beliefs we have been brought up with and exchange them for others, no
matter how good the new ones are. So it was in sixteen hundred. The
populace resented having the Tartary lamb taken away from them."

Mrs. McGregor laughed.

"It was a pity Sir John Mandeville and the rest did not live long
enough to learn how mistaken they had been," mused Mary.

"Poor old Sir John! I guess it was as well for him that he didn't, for
in his day he was, you see, quite a celebrity. He might not have
relished living to see his fame evaporate. At least he had the courage
to make a trip to a strange and distant land, and for that we should
respect him since it took nerve to travel in those days. Moreover he
did his part and was a link in a civilization that went on after he was
gone. So the history of the world is built up. Each generation builds
on the blunders of the one before it--or should."

"How queer it makes you feel; and how small!" Mary reflected.

"Why?"

"Well, it just seems as if we didn't count for much," sighed the girl.

"On the contrary, dear child, we count for a great deal," instantly
retorted her mother. "Each one of us can have a share in the vast plan
of the universe and help carry it forward."

"How, Mother?"

"By doing all we can during our lifetime to make the world better," was
the answer. "Good men and g