“Oh, yes--man imagines everything on earth is put here for him to exploit and ruin! Where are the buffaloes? Where are the beavers? Where are the elks? Where are the bighorns? Were they put here for man to destroy--to wipe almost completely from the face of the earth? When man has learned to step down from his papier-mâché throne of insufferable conceit, he will find that he is only a part of nature’s scheme--that every other atom in the universe is as important as he is. Then we can begin to look for the dawn of civilization.” “I’m afraid,” said Andy, “that you and Doctor Shonto are not destined to get along very well together.” “Why?” “Well, it is his business to exploit nature for the rebuilding of man.” “Yes--I know. I tried to draw him out this morning, but he refused to be tempted into a discussion of his work. How long have you known him, Mr. Jerome?” “Why, almost all my life, it seems. He is an old friend of my father and mother. I can’t remember when I didn’t know the doctor.” “That seems strange. He is not so much older than you are. How old are you?” “Twenty-four,” Andy replied. “And I should say the doctor is not much over thirty.” “Thirty-four, I believe.” “Then he was ten years old when you were born. Could you call him a ‘friend of your father and mother’ when he was ten years old? Did you play with him when you were a boy?” For a long time Andy Jerome was silent. Then he said slowly: “I must tell you something about myself. I can recall almost nothing of my childhood before my twelfth birthday. And my earliest recollections are of Doctor Shonto. I remember him as about twenty-two or twenty-three years old. And, to me, he never was younger than that.” “Why, I can’t understand you at all!” exclaimed the girl. “It’s very difficult to understand,” he said in low tones. “But when I was about eight years old, they tell me, something happened to me. It seems that I got a crack on the noodle while playing and lost my memory. I remained in that condition from the age of eight until I was perhaps between eleven and twelve. It was Doctor Shonto, who had just been graduated from a medical college and was already making a big name for himself, who treated me and brought me out of my coma. But, strange to say, it left me with a weak heart. I have to take treatment for it right along, and the doctor tells me that, if I neglect this treatment, my old condition will come back, or I may suddenly drop dead. For all that, I’m fit as a fiddle and strong as an ox. It seems funny to think that I may bump off at any moment--hard to believe. But nobody ever doubts Doctor Shonto. However, he has assured me again and again that I have nothing whatever to worry about, so long as I take my medicine diligently. I guess I haven’t missed a day since he began his treatment.” “Why, how strange!” was Charmian’s only comment.