“And what right have you to satisfy yourself in such a matter?” exclaimed the girl.  “What right have any of us to satisfy ourselves?  What right have we to be selfish in our death any more than in our life?  Oh, sir, if you saw rightly, you would see that you had no right to satisfy yourself in this dreadful way.  You should satisfy others.  They need you even as the poor need the rich; as the weak need the strong; as those who are prone, because they cannot lift themselves, need one who is strong enough to lift them.  It is not heroic to die unless the full object of life is met by the dying.  It is heroic to live, because it is harder than dying.  Even death dedicated to atonement can be a greater sin than the deed which one would atone.”

“I know not how the girl has such wisdom,” said the trapper, “for she be young, and yit she sartinly seems to me to have the right of it.  I know not who ye be, nor how many look to ye for help; but ef ye be one that can help, and there be many that need yer help, I sartinly conceit that ye should live—­live to help ’em.”

“You say right!  You say right, old man!” exclaimed the girl.  “His life is not a common life.  It represents such power and faculty and opportunity, and I may say such devotion to the many, that it does not belong to him, and may not therefore be disposed of as if he owned it himself and had the right to do with it as he pleased.”

“I do not say,” answered the man, “that I own my life.  I say rather that I do not own it.  I owe it.  There are debts you cannot pay by life.  The laws of the whole world recognize this; nor do we do by living the greatest service.  He who dies to uphold a righteous principle fulfils all righteousness.  He who gives away a life in atonement for a life taken makes all life more sacred; and so he serves the living beyond all other service he might do.  She looks at individuals; I observe principles.  She contemplates only the present; I forecast the future needs of man.  Moreover, the highest service one can do man is to serve himself in the highest manner.  He who ministers to his own sense of justice strengthens the judicial sense of the world.  Men overvalue life when they suppose that there is nothing better.  To teach them that there is something better, to impress them by some signal event that there is something higher and nobler than mere living, is to fulfill all benevolence to their souls.  How many the Saviour could feed and heal and bless by avoiding Calvary!  And yet he did not avoid it.  He showed the object of life, which is service.  I trust I have not wholly failed to show men that.  He then showed the highest object of dying, which is service.  Why should I not imitate him?  Why should I not be a law unto myself and bear the penalty voluntarily?”

The man rose to his feet as he concluded, and looking at the trapper and Herbert, said: 

“Gentlemen, I thank you for your hospitality and courtesy,” and turning to the girl he said, “Mary, we will talk this matter over more fully by ourselves.”