Page:Along the Trail (1912).pdf/19

 —that is—I don't believe,—well,—maybe I could if I tried."

"Good!" said the Dream. "That is a very pretty example of substitution. In place of 'I'm afraid I can't,' you put 'Maybe I could if I tried.' Now suppose you leave off the 'maybe,'—the 'I could if I tried' sounds fairly well, doesn't it? Then, as there is no excuse for not trying, the 'if I tried' can be cut out;—and that leaves just 'I could,' which is equal to 'I can.' What do you think of that for an example in the cancelling of 'no account' factors? Isn't that pretty good arithmetic?"

Marjorie nodded her head. "It's all right—fine. That word 'afraid' is just the label of a coward, isn't it;—and a label like that must make some sort of an impression on a person—even if it doesn't really 'belong' at first—if he keeps on branding everything he says, with it. It must get tattooed onto his character after a while."

"It surely does. It is a bad combina-