What a simple story it was! What was there in it that made John's heart beat quicker?
"What do you care?" he asked her.
"Why, isn't that a singular question? If I love my King, don't I want all the world to be loyal to him? Besides, if I love my friends, don't I desire for them that which will alone give them happiness?"
"What do you mean by 'being a Christian'?"
"I mean following Christ."
"What does that mean? I don't understand those cant phrases, and I don't believe anybody else does."
"Never mind 'anybody else;' what is there in that phrase which you don't understand?"
"I don't understand anything about it, and never saw anything in any one's religion to make me want to; I believe less in religion than I do in anything else in life. It is a great humbug. Half your Christians are making believe to their neighbours, and the other half are making believe not only to their neighbours but to themselves. Now you have my opinion in plain English."
And John drew himself up proudly, after the manner of a young man who thinks he has advanced some unanswerable arguments.
"Never mind 'other people's religion' just now, John; I don't want you to be like a single person whom you ever saw. I am not anxious just now to know whether you believe in religion or not. Do you believe there is such a person as Jesus Christ?"