s saying, "is to
get back to the point from which you started. Take the sun itself,
or any created mass; take the smallest molecule in that mass; take
the world whichever way you will--"

'Behold the world, how it is whirled round!
And, for it so is whirl'd, is named so.'

"(There's pretty etymology for you!) All movement in a straight line
is eccentric, lawless, or would be were it possible, which I doubt.
Why this haste, then, in passing given points? If man did it in a
noble pride, as a _tour de force_, to prove himself so much the
cleverer than the brute creation, I could understand it; but if
that's his game, a speck of radium beats him in a common canter.
I read in a scientific paper last week, in a signed article which
bore every impress of truth, that there's a high explosive that will
run a spark from here to Paris while you are pronouncing its name.
Yet extend that run, and run it far and fast as you will, it can only
come back to your hand. . . . Which," continued Brother Copas,
raising his voice, for Brother Bonaday had toddled into the
sitting-room to see if the kettle boiled, "reminds me of a story I
picked up in the Liberal Club the other day, the truth of it
guaranteed. Ten or eleven years ago the Mayor of Merchester died on
the very eve of St. Giles's Fair. The Town Council met, and some
were for stopping the shows and steam roundabouts as a mark of
respect, while others doubted that the masses (among whom the Mayor
had not been popular) would resent this curtailing of their fun.
In the end a compromise was reached. The proprietor of the
roundabouts was sent for, and the show-ground granted to him, on
condition that he made his steam-organ play hymn tunes. He accepted,
and that week the merrymakers revolved to the strains of 'Nearer, my
God, to Thee.' It sounds absurd; but when you come to reflect--"

Brother Copas broke off, hearing a slight commotion in the next room.
Brother Bonaday, kneeling and puffing at the fire which refused to
boil the water, had been startled by voices in the entry. Looking
up, flushed of face, he beheld a child on the threshold, with Nurse
Branscome standing behind her.

"Daddy!"

Brother Copas from one doorway, Nurse Branscome from the other, saw
Brother Bonaday's face twitch as with a pang of terror. He arose
slowly from his knees, and very slowly--as if his will struggled
against some invisible, detaining force--held out both hands.
Corona ran