TheywerenamedBastinandBickley。Bastin——BasilwashisChristianname——wasanuncouth，shock—headed，flat—footedpersonoflarge，ruggedframeandequallyruggedhonesty，withamindalmostincrediblysimple。Nothingsurprisedhimbecausehelackedthefacultyofsurprise。Hewaslikethatkindoffishwhichliesatthebottomoftheseaandtakeseverykindoffoodintoitsgreatmawwithoutdistinguishingitsflavour。Metaphoricallyspeaking，heavenlymannaanddecayedcabbagewerejustthesametoBastin。Hewasnotfastidiousandbothwerementalpabulum——ofasort——togetherwithwhateverlaybetweentheseextremes。Yethewasgood，sopainfullygoodthatonefeltthatwithoutexertiontohimselfhehadbookedafirst—classticketstraighttoHeaven；
indeedthathisguardianangelhadtieditroundhisneckatbirthlestheshouldloseit，alreadynumberedanddatedlikeanidentificationdisc。
IamboundtoaddthatBastinneverwentwrongbecauseheneverfelttheslightesttemptationtodoso。ThisIsupposeconstitutesrealvirtue，since，inviewofcertainBiblesayings，thepersonwhoistemptedandwouldliketoyieldtothetemptation，isequallyasinnerwiththepersonwhodoesyield。
Tobetrulygoodoneshouldbetoogoodtobetempted，ortooweaktomaketheeffortworththetempter’swhile——inshortnotdeservingofhispowderandshot。
IneedhardlyaddthatBastinwentintotheChurch；indeed，hecouldnothavegoneanywhereelse；itabsorbedhimnaturally，asdoubtlessHeavenwilldoinduecourse。OnlyIthinkitlikelythatuntiltheygettoknowhimhewillboretheangelssomuchthattheywillcontinuallymovehimuphigher。Alsoiftheyhaveanysusceptibilitiesleft，probablyhewilltreadupontheirtoes——anartinwhichIneverknewhisequal。However，IalwayslovedBastin，perhapsbecausenooneelsedid，afactofwhichheremainedtotallyunconscious，orperhapsbecauseofhisbrutalwayoftellingonewhatheconceivedtobethetruth，which，ashehadlessimaginationthanadormouse，generallyitwasnot。