The Equinox (Volume I, Number VI)

THE ORDEAL OF IDA PENDRAGON ”He is like a black leopard,” she purred. “Is anything in the world so beautiful as that lithe black body ? ” ”I have seen blood in the sunlight on a bull's shoulder," replied Rolles. “ I love to see the pure animal beat the mere brute. White men ought not to fight: they ought to think, and do lovely physical things, things gracious and of good report." “Ida! my Ida! Could you see your nostrils twitching! I can imagine you fighting with all their fierceness, incapable of keeping to the rules of boxing.” “ Ι hate you,” she said. “ In everything you see—" “ Your lust of blood," he answered gravely. “ It is true," said Ida slowly. “There is no light of battle in your eye. You see it as a picture." “ It is a hieroglyph." “ But it is a fight ! " “ I do not believe in fights. I only believe in beauty.” " Oh how true, how right you are! How noble] " She hid her face in her hands and began to cry to herself. “ I see] I see! That is how God must see the Universe, or He could never tolerate such cruelty, such idiotcy, ineptitude.” “ Exactly. Suppose now that the world is only symbol—— I had rather say sacrament—suppose for example that all these stars swimming in boundless æther are but corpuscles in the blood of some toy terrier of the Creator.” " You frighten me. I don’t want to suppose.” ”Think of the eternal battles of haemoglobin, oxyhaemo- globin, carboxyhaemoglobin in our blood. It is the same idea. Do we express sympathy for the fallen? Havewe a stop—the- war party? On the contrary, we take good care that these 123