“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 brutal¹ because that is their make; brutes² 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, lasting³ 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.”

 

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