At last Philemon threw aside his work and joined me there.

“You were up late last night,” he said.

“Yes. I went with Virginius to the forest and he gave me an historical outline of the earth.”

“Did it interest you?”

“Very much. It accounts for a great deal which I did not understand before.”

He looked at me.

“I thought your experience was a large one,” he remarked.

“I used to think so myself,” I admitted, laughing. “But lately I have come to the conclusion I know very little of what I thought I knew, so have altered my opinion.”

“You have been in hell?”

“Undoubtedly. That was another surprise for me. It was so different from what I thought.”