"Why, to worship Mentu, or Atmu, of course! Do you not worship?"
"Worship whom?" asked Arius.
"Oh," she answered, "old Ea, or Ptah, or Hesiri-Hes, or the other gods, any of them you prefer?"
"I do not worship any of them," said Arius.
"Perhaps, then," said Theckla, "thou art an atheist, and hatest all of the gods; and that is very wrong. For papa says that the atheists are little better than the Christians themselves, and that it is owing to their evil influence that so many young people in Alexandria are growing up to believe in nothing. But, blessed be the gods, I have been brought up in religion!"
"And which of the gods dost thou love and worship most?"
"I love none of them surely, but I fear and worship Ptah, Ra, and Hesiri-Hes, the cross old things; because mamma says that they are the most respectable; and I fear them much, especially the terrible, implacable, pitiless Ma-t."
"But do you not think," said Arius, "that you would rather worship some loving, compassionate, and holy deity, whom you could love, and obey because you loved him?"
"Oh, that would be funny, would it not?--for a girl to fall in love with a god! I never thought of such a thing before, but I believe," she added, with an arch glance at Arius, "that I would like a really nice handsome boy better than any of the plebeian gods!"
"What dost thou mean, Theckla, by saying 'the plebeian gods'?"