"If gospels had to wait for the wise and prudent," said Jenifer, "they would wait till eternity. That woman was speaking not for an institution but for a movement." "Do not such exaggerations condemn it?" "By no means; if some did not exaggerate none of us would get a hearing--especially if we happened to be in a minority; and reformers always are." "Though I embroider it for myself," said Prince Max, "from others I prefer to get plain truth." "Plain truth," she replied, "is only that manner of dealing with a thing--with some wrong, say--which makes it plain to people that the wrong exists. Short of that you haven't got truth into them." "Now you are preaching pragmatism," said Max. "Do you suppose," she went on, "that to that dull, sunk, slow-witted crowd we have been looking at, a mere niggardly statement of facts would make the truth plain, or stir them to any action or feeling for others? That woman on some points over-stated her case quite ridiculously--especially as to the benefits and rewards which the women's Charter would bring--but the effect upon her hearers fell far short of what the real facts justify. Oh, people have to be bribed even to do no more than open their ears to the truth." "By false promises of reward? Yes, you have the Church with you there. It deals with our ordinary everyday morality, in very much the same way. Tells a maximum of untruth so that a necessary minimum may spring out of it. How many Christians to-day really believe in the doctrine of hell?" "Surely," she said, "to see the light of its fires in so many faces is proof enough." "That is not the doctrine," said the Prince, "and you know it. Hell here and now may be very real; but it is not what your Church preaches. Many of those lit-up faces that you speak of are aglow with mere lustful enjoyment. But the Church does not teach that men can make the mistake when in hell of actually believing themselves in Heaven; that would be too dangerous. Turn on that tap, and the jasper sea in which your angels take their baths will run dry." She looked at him half quizzically. "And what is your doctrine?" she inquired. "When you are enjoying yourself--saying things like that, for instance, hoping to hurt--do you ever think that you are in hell?" "No," said Max, "I do not make enjoyment the test. Just now, for instance, I rather feel that I may be at the gates of Heaven; but I am not, therefore, superlatively happy. Can you promise me that the heavenly road is one of pure happiness?" "To any one who accepted absolutely the Divine Will it must be."