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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Lady Baltimore by Owen Wister: moral awakening will be followed by a moral slumber, since, in the
uncomprehended scheme of things, slumber seems necessary; and you needn't
pull so long a face, Mr. Mayrant, because the slumber will be followed by
another moral awakening. The alcoholic society girl you don't like will
very probably give birth to a water-drinking daughter--who in her turn
may produce a bibulous progeny: how often must I tell you that nothing is
final?"
John Mayrant gave the horses a somewhat vicious lash after these last
words of mine; and, as he made no retort to them, we journeyed some
little distance in silence through the mild, enchanting light of the sun.
My deliberate allusion to alcoholic girls had made plain what I had begun
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