“So much the worse for common sense. When it judges of these isolated beings by the standards of the common herd then common sense is always the greatest nonsense.”
“Oho! oho!” came in several voices, but Drake paid no attention.
“Jesus Christ himself was mocked at and ridiculed by the common sense of his time, by his own people, and even his own family, and his family and people and time have been gibbeted by all the centuries that have come after them. And so it has been with every ardent soul since who has taken up his parable and introduced into the world a new spirit. The world has laughed at him and spat upon him, and, only for its fear of the sublime banner he has borne, it would have shut him up in a mad-house.”
They were strange words in a strange place. Everybody listened.
“But these sombre giants are the leaders of the world for all that, and one hour of their Divine madness is worth more to humanity than a cycle of our sanity. And yet we deny them friendship and love, and do our best to put them out of the pale of the human family! We have invented a new name for them too—degenerates—pygmies and pigs as we are, who ought to go down on our knees to them with our faces buried in the dirt! Gentlemen,” he cried, filling his glass and rising to his feet, “I give you a toast—the health of Father Storm!”
Glory had sat trembling all over, breathing hard, blushing, and wide-eyed until he had done. Then she leaped up to where he stood beside her, threw her arms about his neck, and kissed him.
“And now you ring down quick, my dear,” said Betty, and everybody laughed a little.
Drake was laughing with the rest, and Glory, who had dropped back to her seat in confused embarrassment, was trying to laugh too.
“Another bottle of fizz anyway,” cried Drake. He had mistaken the meaning of Glory's kiss, and was utterly intoxicated by it. She could have cried with shame and rage, seeing he thought such conduct came naturally to her and perhaps imagined it wasn't the first time she had done as much. But to carry off the situation she laughed a good deal with him, and when the wine came they jingled glasses.
“I'm going to see you home to-night,” he whispered, smiling slyly and looking her full in the eyes. She shook her head, but that only provoked him to fresh effort.