"And she has a beautiful name, and I'll just put it into your memory, Ian. She is called Mercedes."
"Spanish! Is she a Spaniard?"
"Her mother was a California Spaniard of old and wealthy lineage."
"A Roman Catholic, doubtless."
"Of course. That goes without saying. It does not matter if she loves God."
"It matters anyway and everyway. It takes all the good out of the circumstance. The girl was the devil's bait for the poor lad's soul."
"Nonsense, Ian! One creed is as good as another. Creeds, indeed! Religion has nothing to do with such outside details. God save us! What kind of a head must a man have who could think so? I can tell you, Ian, the belief in any creed stands in these days on the edge of a razor."
"Then what have we left?"
"We have Faith, man. Faith goes below creeds, straight to the impassioned human hopes out of which creeds have grown. Faith in spiritual matters is just what courage is in material life. My word, Ian! if you had only Faith, you would see some good in every creed."
"Well, then, all creeds claim to come from the Bible."