ss
to mind the morals of the people. It's for the parsons to fight the
devil."

"But," said Beth, "as I answered you before, you cannot attend to the
health of the community properly without also minding its morals. The
real old devil is disease."

Dan left his seat and walked to the window, where he stood with his
hands in his pockets, looking out for awhile.

"Well, this is enough jawbation for one day, I hope," he said at last,
turning round. "Marrying a woman like you is enough to drive a man to
the devil. I've a jolly good mind to go and get drunk. I declare to
God if I could get drunk overnight and feel all right again in the
morning, I'd be drunk every night. But it can't be done," he added
regretfully. "There are drawbacks to everything."

Beth looked at him imperturbably while he was speaking, then turned
her attention to the fire.

"You know my views now on the subject of vivisection," she said at
last. "If there is any more of it here, I shall leave the house, and
publish the reason. And you also know what I consider I owe myself in
the way of self-respect. You must beguile your creditors by other
means than my personal appearance."

She had spoken all through in the most temperate tone, and now, when
she had finished, she leaned back in her chair and folded her hands
with a sigh, as of one who had finished a hard task and would rest.

Dan looked at her with evident distaste, and considered a little,
searching for something more to say that might move her, some argument
that should persuade or convince; but, as nothing occurred to him, he
left the room, banging the door after him in his ill-conditioned way,
because he knew that the noise would be a racking offence to her
overwrought nerves.

But from that time forward everything he did was an offence to Beth, a
source of irritation. In spite of herself, she detected all the
insincerity of his professions, the mean motives of his acts. Up to
this time she had been more kindly disposed towards him than she
herself knew. All she had wanted was to be able to care for him, to
find some consistency in him, something to respect, and to which she
could pin her faith; but now she knew him for what he was
exactly--shallow, pretentious, plausible, vulgar-minded, without
principle; a man of false pretensions and vain professions; utterly
untrustworthy; saying what would suit himself at the moment, or just
what occurred to him, not what he thought, but what he