underfed children clung to emaciated mothers. And none of the starving thousands thought these actions unseemly or strange. Wherever the astonished God turned his eyes the same terrible contrasts faced Him; starvation and wilful destruction and everybody praying while proceeding with the destructive work. He saw some of the great machines, working night and day, and what they produced was destroyed as fast as it came forth; but they were kept going twenty-four hours a day. He saw other machines kept idle, while people near them died for lack of what they were intended to supply.

There are things which can upset even the poise of a God. With tears in his eyes He addressed the chief of the Angels. “I absolve you from that first suspicion. You have produced the great capacity for never failing abundance in this people. But tell me, what has entered this island, that can stand between this abundance and the hungry consumer, and what devil has power to make hungry men destroy their surplus and then yelp to the gods for more? If I have poured my blessings on a race of jackasses under the false impression that they were men, I will tread this island into the sea and apologize to all the real jackasses that are left untainted on the earth. Give me your explanation.”

The angel replied, “We did not foresee that this race is filled with superstition, and believes in magic. At this moment they possess everything they need and all is at their disposal.”

“Then, by all the gods, why do they not take and enjoy, and give thanks to me?”

“As I said, they are believers in magic, and think that without a magic talisman, they cannot start a machine,”