Then after a long silence he called out: "Who and what are you?"

"I am an angel," said the white-robed figure, without turning
round.

"You are not a Catholic," said MacIan.

The other seemed to take no notice, but reverted to the main
topic.

"In our armies up in heaven we learn to put a wholesome fear into
subordinates."

MacIan sat craning his neck forward with an extraordinary and
unaccountable eagerness.

"Go on!" he cried, twisting and untwisting his long, bony
fingers, "go on!"

"Besides," continued he, in the prow, "you must allow for a
certain high spirit and haughtiness in the superior type."

"Go on!" said Evan, with burning eyes.

"Just as the sight of sin offends God," said the unknown, "so
does the sight of ugliness offend Apollo. The beautiful and
princely must, of necessity, be impatient with the squalid
and----"