“Just think of it,” he rolled magnificently, his visionary instincts aroused; “just think of that little human soul waiting to be born, and it’s you that give it the chance to enter this world. Oh, happy man! Just think of all the others, the countless hosts of the unborn waiting their turn. Why, it’s an inspiring sight, these wistful legions, countless as the sands of the sea. And it’s for us to welcome them, to be the means of opening the door to as many as possible, to give them beautiful bodies to enter into, and to make the world more pleasant for them to dwell in. Now, there’s a glorious ambition for us all. Let parenthood be the crowning honour of life. Let it be the duty of the race to so improve conditions that there will be the right kind of welcome waiting for them—that they will be fit and worthy in body and soul to live the life that is awaiting them.”
He drank deeply from his big stein, and wiped some foam from his lips.
“Why, it’s more than an ambition: it’s a religion. The Japanese worship the Dead; let us worship the Unborn, the great races who are to come, the people we are going to help to make great. For on us it all depends, on us to-day. Every action of ours is like a pebble thrown in a still sea, the waves of which go rippling down eternity. Yes, let us realise our responsibility to the Unborn, and govern our lives accordingly in grace and goodliness. There! that goes to the very heart of all morality—to live our best, not because we are expecting to be rewarded, but because we are making for generations to come better bodies, better homes, better lives. And they in their turn will realise their duty to the others that are crowding on, and make the world still worthier for their occupation.”
He filled his Turk’s head pipe thoughtfully.
“I want to go further,” he went on, “but the rest is more fanciful. I believe that the armies of the Unborn know that it all depends on us here to-day what kind of deal they are going to get, and in their vast, blind way they are trying to influence us. I like to think that that is the great impulse towards good we all feel, the power that in spite of selfishness, is gradually lifting us onward and upward. It is the multitude to come, trying in their blind, pitiful way to influence us, to make us better. There they wait, the soldiers of the future, ready to take up the great fight, to carry the banner of freedom, happiness, and mutual love to the golden goal of universal brotherhood. Truly I worship the Unborn.”
He lit his pipe solemnly.
“Then, let me congratulate you, Madden. You are a very lucky man.”
Much cheered I thanked him and, absorbed in my dreams of paternity, continued to tramp the streets. All the time I was seeing that slim little girl of mine, with her long dark hair, her hazel eyes, her quaint, old-fashioned ways. And as the day drew near she grew more and more real to me. I could feel her caressing arms around my neck, and her rosebud mouth pressed to mine. Truly she was the most adorable child that ever lived.
One piece of luck we had at this period: The fairy stories were accepted by the Piccadilly Magazine and we got ten pounds for them, thus saving the situation once again.
When the time came that we should obtain a new lodging I had taken a room in the rue D’Assas, but I was immediately sorry, for I discovered that it overlooked the Maternity Hospital Tarnier. The very first morning I saw a young woman coming out with a new baby. She was a mere girl, hatless and all alone, and she cried very bitterly.