"
There was another pause; this time it was Pendleton who broke the
silence.
"As you say," spoke he, in a strange, throaty sort of tone, "she has
not been quite frank. Take all the circumstances together and they
seem to point--"
He paused as though quite unable to finish. Ashton-Kirk laid a hand
upon his shoulder.
"Imagination is a thing that is vitally necessary in this sort of
work," said he. "But it must be held in check by reason. The great
trouble with an amateur is that he reasons up to a certain point; then
he allows his imagination to take a long leap toward a result. The
upshot is that his results have seldom anything to support them. The
correct method, I think, is to allow the imagination to scurry ahead
in the way that is natural to it; but reason must follow close behind,
proving each step of the way. To be sure, you may have theories,
hypotheses, ideas without end, but you must never take them for
granted. Select each in its turn, place it in a tube as the chemist
does, add a few drops of reason, and you may produce a fact. It is the
only way to go about it. Once a man becomes fixed in a belief, be
there ever so little foundation for it, his mind stops revolving the
subject; further procedure is hopeless.
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