There was a silence as they trudged on steadily.
"On the whole," was Sir Julian's summing-up, "the big calamities, such as battle, murder, and sudden death, are no longer essential to constitute crisis. The same reactions in humanity's present stage of development are produced without any visible action or events. Our consciousness has shifted to a more complex level."
"A sign of the evolution of the race?"
"Well, yes. It implies a greater responsiveness to the invisible event."
"Certainly," said Miss Marchrose, "it is easier to cope with the obvious, symbolised, let us say, by telegrams, or your good honest earthquake."
Mark Easter laughed.
"Telegrams and earthquakes meet with more sympathy, and certainly with more assistance, from one's neighbours, than any amount of atmospheric pressure," said he.
Miss Marchrose laughed too, but the conviction remained with Julian that she had inwardly recalled a connection between their discussion and that story, whatever the rights of it might be, that linked her name to that of Captain Clarence Isbister.
As they neared Culmhayes, traversing deeply sunken lanes and an occasional wind-swept field, Iris and Mr. Garrett fell further and further behind.
It was obvious that the creator of "Why, Ben!" preferred her reversions to the soil in the figurative sense of the words.