"Don't interrupt me, please, with irrelevant remarks," Nan cried, laughing in spite of herself. "Seriously, Jim--you must listen to me. I'm in dead earnest. There's no virtue in riding behind a donkey if you can own a carriage. There can be no virtue in shivering in a thin dress if you can wear furs. Even the saints all dream of a Heaven with streets of gold, chariots to ride in, and gleaming banquet halls! I'm just a practical saint, Jim. I want mine here and now. You must have money, if for no other reason, because I wish it!" "Even if I enter a career of crime with Bivens as my master?" "Come! Mr. Bivens is a devout member of the church. And you know that he's in dead earnest----" "About getting to Heaven? Of course. That's simply his insurance policy against fire in the next world." "Oh, don't talk nonsense, Jim. The possession of money is not a crime." "No. Crime, Nan, is in the heart and its seed always springs from the soul. Its roots must always strike one soil to live--_the selfish will to have what one wants regardless of the cost to others_." "Is it a crime," Nan asked, passionately, "to wish to live a life that's worth the struggle? You must take conditions as you find them." "That's just it. I won't. I'd rather create new conditions and mould life. I'd rather lead, organize and inspire, than follow. I refuse to become a mere money-grubber, because I'm in love with Life." "And you would be willing," the girl said dreamily, "to sacrifice the happiness of all those you love and all who love you to follow this whim?" "Sacrifice your happiness? Why, the one purpose of my life is to make you happy----" "Well, I can't be happy in poverty. The man I love must be rich. Oh, Jim, you shall be! Wealth is the only road now from the vulgar crowd--the only way to climb on top." "But, suppose I don't wish to climb on the top of people?" "You can't be such a fool!" "But suppose I am? Money is the most obvious sign of success in a new crude world. Ours is no longer new, no longer crude or isolated. True civilization has always placed manhood above money. The only names in our history worth remembering--are there, because they did something else than make money. Washington was the richest man in America in his day. But nobody remembers this--why? Because it is of no importance. The men you call great would simply reduce life to the terms of a commercial dividend. Yet nothing pays that's really worth while." "Jim, are you crazy?"