“sage-brush, you have been listening?”

“yes.”

“isn’t it strange?”

“well, no, mongrel, i don’t know that it is.”

“why don’t you?”

“i’ve seen a good many human beings in my time. they are created as they are; they cannot help it. they are only brutal because that is their make; brutes would be brutal if it was their make.”

“to me, sage-brush, man is most strange and unaccountable. why should he treat dumb animals that way when they are not doing any harm?”

“man is not always like that, mongrel; he is kind enough when he is not excited by religion.”

“is the bull-fight a religious service?”

“i think so. i have heard so. it is held on sunday.”

(a reflective pause, lasting some moments.) then:

“when we die, sage-brush, do we go to heaven and dwell with man?”

“my father thought not. he believed we do not have to go there unless we deserve it.”