"In romances, Jim, remorse always crushes and kills the rich man——"
Bivens paused and smiled.
"But in life, never! He laughs and grows fat. I haven't reached the fat period yet because I've just begun——"
"You've just begun?" Stuart interrupted, laughingly.
"Yes, you'll understand what I mean before I've finished the day's work."
"But why?" the young lawyer asked passionately. "Such a purpose seems to me in view of this stunning revelation the sheerest insanity. Life, the one priceless thing we possess, is too short. And what lies beyond the six feet of earth we don't know."
"That's because you're an unbeliever, Jim."
There could be no mistaking the seriousness with which Bivens spoke. Yet Stuart laughed in spite of his effort to control the impulse.
"On the other hand, Cal," he answered, with mischievous banter, "if your little heaven and your little hell in which you seem to take so much comfort are true, so much the worse. I can see you shovelling coal through all eternity——"
"But I happen to be going to the other place," Bivens broke in, good-naturedly.