The more persons present, the greater the probability;
therefore there is really a greater fatality in the numbers fourteen,
twenty, thirty, than in thirteen.
"But to return to the point from which we started--no, Emily, it is not
necessary to sit down. You will observe that many persons who declare
emphatically that they are not superstitious, are nevertheless
influenced by old-time sayings and practices; some of which, though
perhaps beautiful originally, have now lost all significance; others
which are simply relics of paganism. Men are often as irrational in
this respect as women; and, notice this well, you will find
superstition much more common among non-Catholics than among Catholics.
As we have seen, however, some of us do not realize that what we are
pleased to call certain harmless eccentricities, are very like the
superstitious practices forbidden by the First Commandment."
Kate and Emily were not giving to this little homily the attention it
deserved. They had begun to trifle as girls are wont to do. Catching
at the tiny bisque cupid that hung from the chandelier, Emily
sportively sent it flying toward Kate, who swung it back again.
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