"When we return to Oregon, you must not fail to start Burns on some of these legends, Joe. The Widow McAlpin, whom he means to marry as soon as she will consent, is as deeply interested in the origin of the Indians as he is."
"But if we knew all about the immediate origin of the Indians, that wouldn't settle the question, John. Where did the Russians get their start; and how did every island of the great oceans become inhabited?"
"You are carrying me away beyond my depth, Joe. Burns has a theory that different races of people are indigenous to all countries. He calls the story of Adam and Eve a myth, or a sort of cabalistic tale. That reminds me that Jean once completely nonplussed the Reverend Thomas Rogers by asking who were the daughters of men whom the sons of God took as wives. ' And where,' she asked, ' did Cain get his wife? ' "
"These speculations, which are by no means new, are as fruitless as they are perplexing, John. We know no more about them than these donkeys do that are floundering, with us on their backs, across this God-forsaken Isthmus. Will there ever be a canal cut across it, I wonder?"
"Guess we'd better talk about spring. That is something we can understand."
"No, John. We can no more clearly comprehend the springtime, with its many wondrous revelations, than we can comprehend' anything else that is unknowable. We know that sunshine, air, and moisture are necessary for the sustenance of organic life; but we don't know what life itself is. It is as invisible to us, in all its wonderful activities, as God himself. No; we know no more about the life that animates spring than we know about the Atlantans. But we do know that travel is a great eyeopener; and by showing us how little we know, or can learn, it helps to take away much of our overweening self-conceit."
