“For a time—­I thought Beth and Mr. Bedient——­” the Grey One ventured.

“No,” the other said briefly.  “Beth loves her work better than she could love any man.  She’s the virgin of pictures.  Have you seen her since she came back?”

“Yes.  As lovely as ever.”

“And your ‘rage’ is on again....  I’m mighty glad about that, Margie.  You were suicidal.  Does the great fortune hold true?”

“Oh, yes,” the Grey One said, “I’m doing right well.  Some of my things are going over the water.”

“Poor little Wordling....  I wonder what she has drawn of the great Driving Good—­since that night?...  I think it would puzzle even Andrew Bedient—­to make her hark to any soul—­but New York’s——­”

“And you, Kate—­this Eve—­what has the Year brought?”

“Nonsense, I’m glass; hold oil or acid with equal ease,” Kate said, leaning back in the big chair.  “I’ve got a bit of work to do, and a few friends whose fortunes have taken a stunning turn for the better.  And I mustn’t forget—­letters from The Modern when he’s away, and talks when he’s in New York....  What astonishes me about Andrew Bedient is that he wears.  He set a killing pace—­for our admiration at first—­at least, I thought so—­but he hasn’t let down an instant.  He stands the light of the public square.  I granted him a great spirit, but he has more, a great nature to hold it.  He can mingle with men without going mad.  There’s many a prophet who couldn’t do that——­”

David Cairns joined them.  “They will be here in a few minutes,” he said.  “Beth is due, too....  Talking about Bedient?”

“Yes——­”

“I was just thinking,” Cairns said, “that we were in a way concentrates of New York and the country, and he is talking to all the people through us.”

“You are strong, aren’t you, David—­for him?” the Grey One asked.

“Yes, and I shall be stronger.”

“I like that,” said Kate Wilkes.

“He’ll work through us—­and directly,” Cairns went on.  “I’m glad to wait and serve and build for a man like that.  Why, if a thief took his purse, he would only wish to give him a greater thing....  Moreover, he’s one of the Voices that will break Woman’s silence of the centuries.”

“I believe much that he says—­all that he says,” Kate Wilkes replied, “that Woman is the bread-giver, spiritual and material; that it is she who conserves the ideals and rewards man for fineness and power—­when she has a chance.  But I also believe that Woman must conquer in herself—­the love of luxury, her vanity, her fierce competition for worldly position—­if only for the disastrous effect of such evils upon men.  They force him to lower his dreams of her, who should be high-priestess.”

“He has not missed that,” Cairns said, “but there have been multitudes to tell Woman her faults.  Bedient restores the dreams of women....  It is Woman who has turned the brute mind of the world from War, and Woman will turn the furious current of the race to-day from the Pits of Trade, where abides the Twentieth Century Lie.”