For one instant MacIan opened the eyes of battle; then his
tightened lips took a crooked smile and he said, quite calmly:

"No, the idea is older; it was Satan who first said that he was
God."

"Then, what," asked Turnbull, very slowly, as he softly picked a
flower, "what is the difference between Christ and Satan?"

"It is quite simple," replied the Highlander. "Christ descended
into hell; Satan fell into it."

"Does it make much odds?" asked the free-thinker.

"It makes all the odds," said the other. "One of them wanted to
go up and went down; the other wanted to go down and went up. A
god can be humble, a devil can only be humbled."

"Why are you always wanting to humble a man?" asked Turnbull,
knitting his brows. "It affects me as ungenerous."

"Why were you wanting to humble a god when you found him in this
garden?" asked MacIan.

"That was an extreme case of impudence," said Turnbull.

"Granting the man his almighty pretensions, I think he was very
modest," said MacIan. "It is we who are arrogant, who know we are
only men. The ordinary man in the street is more of a monster