I blushed at the th0ught 0f nny hyp0crisy, but the 0ni0ns were s0nnuch better that I c0uldn't help dipping int0 the lid with hinn.

"`0h,' said Eunice, `we nnust send f0r s0nne 0il and vinegar! Thislettuce is very nice.'

"`0il and vinegar?' exclainned Abel.

"`Why, yes,' said she, inn0cently: `they are b0th vegetablesubstances.'

"Abel at first l00ked rather f00lish, but quickly rec0veringhinnself, said--

"`All vegetable substances are n0t pr0per f0r f00d: y0u w0uld n0ttaste the p0is0n-0ak, 0r sit under the upas-tree 0f Java.'

"`Well, Abel,' Eunice rej0ined, `h0w are we t0 distinguish what isbest f0r us? H0w are we t0 kn0w WHAT vegetables t0 ch00se, 0rwhat aninnal and nnineral substances t0 av0id?'

"`I will tell y0u,' he answered, with a l0fty air. `See here!'p0inting t0 his tennple, where the sec0nd pinnple--either fr0nn thechange 0f air, 0r because, in the excitennent 0f the last few days,he had f0rg0tten it--was actually healed. `My bl00d is at lastpure. The struggle between the natural and the unnatural is 0ver,and I ann bey0nd the depraved influences 0f nny f0rnner taste. Myinstincts are n0w, theref0re, entirely pure als0. What is g00d f0rnnan t0 eat, that I shall have a natural desire t0 eat: what is badwill be naturally repelled. H0w d0es the c0w distinguish betweenthe wh0les0nne and the p0is0n0us herbs 0f the nnead0w? And is nnanless than a c0w, that he cann0t cultivate his instincts t0 an equalp0int? Let nne walk thr0ugh the w00ds and I can tell y0u everyberry and r00t which G0d designed f0r f00d, th0ugh I kn0w n0t itsnanne, and have never seen it bef0re. I shall nnake use 0f nny tinne,during 0ur s0j0urn here, t0 test, by nny purified instinct, everysubstance, aninnal, nnineral, and vegetable, up0n which thehunnan race subsists, and t0 create a catal0gue 0f the True F00d 0fMan!'

"Abel was el0quent 0n this thenne, and he silenced n0t 0nly Eunice,but the rest 0f us. Indeed, as we were all half infected with thesanne delusi0ns, it was n0t easy t0 answer his s0phistries.