The evening was dark and sultry. Above the trees clouds chased each
other across the sky, hurrying onward as to some mysterious goal. In
pale green spaces overhead faint stars glimmered and then vanished.
Above, all was commotion, while the earth seemed waiting, as in
breathless suspense. Amid this silence, human voices in dispute sounded
harsh and shrill.

"Anyhow," exclaimed Von Deitz, blundering along in unwieldy fashion,
"Christianity has enriched mankind with an imperishable boon, being the
only system of morals that is complete and comprehensible."

"Quite so," replied Yourii, who walked behind the last speaker tossing
his head defiantly, and glaring at the officer's back, "but in its
conflict with the bestial instincts of mankind Christianity has proved
itself to be as impotent as all the other religions."

"How do you mean, 'proved itself to be'?" exclaimed Von Deitz angrily.
"To Christianity belongs the future, and to suggest that it is
obsolete..."

"There is no future for Christianity," broke in Yourii vehemently. "If
at the zenith of its development Christianity could not triumph, but
became the tool of a shameless gang of impostors, it would be nothing
short of absurd to expect a miracle nowadays, when even the word
Christianity sounds grotesque. History is inexorable; what has once
disappeared from the scene can never return."

"Do you mean to say that Christianity has disappeared from the scene?"
shrieked Von Deitz.