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THE COMET AND THE FIXED STAR.
77

"Certainly."

"I don’t see why you say 'certainly.' You would be a good deal better off without it. You are filling yourself full of carnal, brutal, murderous passions every time you eat it. The people who eat meat are not half so elevated nor half so teachable as the Edenites."

"The Edenites are possibly too weak and hungry to resist instruction," said Mary.

"They are neither weak nor hungry," replied their vice-president, with dignity. "They eat milk, and stewed fruit, and all the edible grains nicely boiled. It stands to reason that if you can subdue your earthly, devilish, sensual instincts on anything, you can do it on a diet like that. You can’t fancy an angel or a Mahatma devouring underdone beef."

"No," agreed Mistress Mary; "but for that matter, the spectacle of an angel eating dried-apple sauce doesn’t appeal to my imagination."

"It’s no joking matter," said Mrs. Grubb, with real tears in her eyes. "It was my interest in Theosophy that brought me to the Edenic diet. I have good and sufficient motives for denying my appetite,