“Yes.  What, then?”

“Then the danger is great.  Imagine yourself with Addison’s soul or nature, him with yours.  To what might not you be led?  How do you know that your nature in him would exert any control over his nature in you?”

“Why should it not?”

“There comes in the power of the body, which is very great.  I believe, as you know, absolutely in the existence of the soul, and in its immortal destiny; but that does not blind me to the extraordinary influence, the extraordinary kingship, which a mere body, a mere husk and shell, as some good people call it—­I don’t feel with them—­can obtain not only over another body, but, strangely, over the soul which is in that body.  Your influence over Addison has been, and is, immense.  Do you imagine that it is simply your nature which governs him?”

“I suppose so.”

“Your mere appearance may have an immense deal to do with the matter.  You have the look, the expression, of one who has not sinned.  It is partly that which keeps Addison from giving the reins to his impulses.  I consider that if it were possible for your nature to change secretly and for your face to remain unchanged, if you sinned perpetually and retained your exact appearance, and if Addison did not know you sinned, you could still be his guardian, while, really, yourself far worse in every way than him.”

“But surely that fights against your theory that the existence of a soul is proved by such an influence as I possess over Addison?”

“Not at all.  I said if it were possible for the body not to express the soul, if—­but that’s just the difficulty, it is not possible.  The body manifests the soul.  Supposing it were not so, the power of evil, the devil, if you choose to name it and imply a personal existence for it, might have hold of the world even more tightly than now.  Just conceive, under such conditions, how you might lure Addison to destruction if you desired to do so.  Looking at you, and seeing the same face in which he has learned to see what he thinks entire goodness, he would be unable to believe that any action you could suggest and take part in could be evil.  You could wreck his future with a perfect ease.  But, as things are, did your nature change and become malignant, your face would change too, and you might quickly cease to exercise a strong influence over Addison.  He might even, having now been unconsciously trained into a curious integrity, learn to hate and to despise you.  You remember our conversation to-night about that symphony?”

“Yes.”

“I said that the soul which could reproduce hell should be able to reproduce heaven.”

“I know.”

“Well, my boy—­for you are a boy to me—­the reverse of that might happen also.”

“Perhaps.  But I don’t quite see.”

“The application—­to you?”

“To me?”

“Yes, to you, Cresswell.  You have been given a strangely perfect nature.  As you say, you seem to have nothing to do with the matter.  You have even been inclined to rebel against your gift.  But, take my advice.  Cherish it.  Don’t play with it, as you have been playing.  Remember, if you lose heaven, the space once filled by heaven will not be left empty.”