"It's about as dense as an Irish Channel fog. But I grasp enough to see that it's interesting," exclaimed Mrs. Stuart. "Please don't talk in parables any longer, professor. Come quickly to the point. I'm getting interested."
"This is the point," smiled the professor. "What would be this man's and woman's attitude to each other? Separated under normal social conditions by the widest gulf imaginable, on the desert island they would be thrown together in the closest intimacy. The highly educated woman, the refined product of centuries of high breeding, would suddenly find herself the associate and helpmate of an uncouth, brutal fellow barely redeemed from barbarism. Necessity would compel her to look to him for food. Instinct would prompt him to build her a shelter from the elements, and to protect her from attack. As their enforced sojourn on the island grew longer, the common sailor would begin to cast covetous, lustful eyes on his involuntary companion, and as each day the hope of rescue became more remote, he might insist on ties the very suggestion of which would overwhelm her with horror. Yet with no one but God above to call upon for help, she would be completely at the man's mercy. She would be powerless to resist or to deny herself. Her refinement, her culture, her high intelligence, would go for nothing. The primeval man, the beast, would assert his rights and only death could save her honor from the exercise of his brutal force."
"What a horrid nightmare to conjure up," interrupted Grace, with a shudder. "If such a thing happened to me, I'd jump into the sea."
"I'd pick up a carving-knife and stick him in the ribs," exclaimed Mrs. Stuart, laughing.
"I don't think either of you would do anything of the sort," rejoined the professor. "The sailor would quickly pull Miss Harmon out of the water, and there wouldn't be carving-knives lying around with which to do any rib-sticking. No, you would let Nature work out the problem."
"What!" cried both women simultaneously. "You mean to say that we should——"
"No—not at all," smiled the professor. "You go too quickly. I have merely stated the sailor's desires. Now, the interesting question arises: Will he exercise his rights as the stronger, will he drag this delicate, highly nurtured girl down to his own animal level, or will she by sheer force of character, by her fine mentality and spiritual force, be able to tame the beast and lift him up to her level? That is the problem—a most interesting one from the sociological standpoint; but it could be solved only by being put to an actual test."
"I hope you don't expect either of us to make the experiment," laughed Mrs. Stuart.
"If you did, I should certainly aspire to be the sailor," retorted, gallantly, the man of science.
"The hypothesis is an interesting one," said Grace thoughtfully. "After all, the situation is not impossible."