"Seriously, Whilcher," said the president, leading his antagonist to a _tête-à-tête_, "do you realize what comes of all this nonsense? You profess to be a free-thinker, so I won't ask you to meet me on my own ground, which is that the new dispensation furnishes a substitute for the old; I'll only ask you to look at the matter from your own rationalistic point of view. A man must live up to his beliefs, if he _is_ a man." "True enough," replied the broker. "I wish your parson would admit the same, and preach accordingly. I wouldn't be cheated quite so often by his parishioners." "Business is business," said the president. "You don't ever let any of the theories of your new-fashioned philosophy stand in the way of your making a good trade, do you?" "No, I can't say that I do," replied the broker. "And yet," said Mr. Lottson, "you believe in the theory of the reign of law--a law which cannot be broken without danger of severe penalty. Now whether Christ was God or only man, you've got to obey the law under penalty of punishment, unless there is some other way of satisfying it. Therefore, why not accept a belief that leaves you as free to believe in the law, to admire its wisdom and beauty, as you are now? Putting the thing in a business light, you change no beliefs--you simply take on a new one." "I'll profess to believe nothing but what I understand," declared the broker. "You believe in geography, don't you?" asked the president, "and in history, astronomy, chemistry, zoölogy--all the sciences, in fact? You swear by Darwin, yet you certainly don't pretend to understand all that he writes about." "I accept his conclusions, because I believe in his wisdom and honesty," said the broker. "Of course I don't profess to be able to follow him through his scientific experiments." "Exactly," said the president. "And you believe that Christ and the apostles were honest, don't you?" "Yes--as honest as _human_ beings ever are," said the broker. "That means as honest as Darwin and Spencer, then," said Mr. Lottson. "Then why not believe them as well as your scientific teachers?" "Because----" said Mr. Whilcher, and hesitated.