“The ways of Nature are strange,” he said. “I look at it different. Nature's just as keen to wean you back to a savage state as you are to be civilized. An' if Nature won, you would carry out her design all the better.”
This hunter's talk shocked Helen and yet stimulated her mind.
“Me—a savage? Oh no!” she exclaimed. “But, if that were possible, what would Nature's design be?”
“You spoke of your mission in life,” he replied. “A woman's mission is to have children. The female of any species has only one mission—to reproduce its kind. An' Nature has only one mission—toward greater strength, virility, efficiency—absolute perfection, which is unattainable.”
“What of mental and spiritual development of man and woman?” asked Helen.
“Both are direct obstacles to the design of Nature. Nature is physical. To create for limitless endurance for eternal life. That must be Nature's inscrutable design. An' why she must fail.”
“But the soul!” whispered Helen.
“Ah! When you speak of the soul an' I speak of life we mean the same. You an' I will have some talks while you're here. I must brush up my thoughts.”
“So must I, it seems,” said Helen, with a slow smile. She had been rendered grave and thoughtful. “But I guess I'll risk dreaming under the pines.”
Bo had been watching them with her keen blue eyes.