“Whatdoyouthinkyourself？”
“Ithink，Ibehavedbadly。”saidBurnamy，andamovementofprotestfromMrs。Marchnervedhimtoadd：“Icouldmakeoutthatitwasnotmybusinesstotellhimwhathewasdoing；butIguessitwas；IguessI
oughttohavestoppedhim，orgivenhimachancetostophimself。I
supposeImighthavedoneit，ifhehadtreatedmedecentlywhenIturnedupadaylate，here；orhadn’tactedtowardmeasifIwereahandinhisbuggy-worksthathadcomeinanhourafterthewhistlesounded。”
Hesethisteeth，andanindignantsympathyshoneinMrs。March’seyes；
butherhusbandonlylookedthemoreserious。
Heaskedgently，“Doyouofferthatfactasanexplanation，orasajustification。”
Burnamylaughedforlornly。“Itcertainlywouldn’tjustifyme。Youmightsaythatitmadethecasealltheworseforme。”Marchforboretosay，andBurnamywenton。“ButIdidn’tsupposetheywouldbeontohimsoquick，orperhapsatall。Ithought——ifIthoughtanything——thatitwouldamusesomeofthefellowsintheoffice，whoknowaboutthosethings。”Hepaused，andinMarch’scontinuedsilencehewenton。“Thechancewasoneinahundredthatanybodyelsewouldknowwherehehadbroughtup。”
“Butyoulethimtakethatchance。”Marchsuggested。
“Yes，Ilethimtakeit。Oh，youknowhowmixedallthesethingsare！”
“Yes。”
OfcourseIdidn’tthinkitoutatthetime。ButIdon’tdenythatIhadasatisfactioninthenotionofthehornets’nesthewaspokinghisthickheadinto。Itmakesmesick，now，tothinkIhad。Ioughtn’ttohavelethim；hewasperfectlyinnocentinit。Aftertheletterwent，Iwantedtotellhim，butIcouldn’t；andthenItookthechancestoo。
Idon’tbelievebecouldhaveevergotforwardinpolitics；he’stoohonest——orheisn’tdishonestintherightway。Butthatdoesn’tletmeout。Idon’tdefendmyself！Ididwrong；Ibehavedbadly。ButI’vesufferedforit。
I’vehadaforebodingallthetimethatitwouldcometotheworst，andfeltlikeamurdererwithhisvictimwhenI’vebeenalonewithStoller。
WhenIcouldgetawayfromhimIcouldshakeitoff，andevenbelievethatithadn’thappened。Youcan’tthinkwhatanightmareit’sbeen！
Well，I’veruinedStollerpolitically，butI’veruinedmyself，too。I’vespoiledmyownlife；I’vedonewhatIcanneverexplainto——tothepeopleIwanttohavebelieveinme；I’vegottostealawaylikethethiefIam。
Good-by！”Hejumpedtohisfeet，andputouthishandtoMarch，andthentoMrs。March。
“Why，you’renotgoingawaynow！”shecried，inadaze。
“Yes，Iam。IshallleaveCarlsbadontheeleven-o’clocktrain。Idon’tthinkIshallseeyouagain。”Heclungtoherhand。“IfyouseeGeneralTriscoe——Iwishyou’dtellthemIcouldn’t——thatIhadto——thatIwascalledawaysuddenly——Good-by！”Hepressedherhandanddroppedit，andmixedwiththecrowd。Thenhecamesuddenlyback，withafinalappealtoMarch：“Shouldyou——doyouthinkIoughttoseeStoller，and——andtellhimIdon’tthinkIusedhimfairly？”
“Yououghttoknow——“Marchbegan。
Butbeforehecouldsaymore，Burnamysaid，“You’reright。”andwasoffagain。
“Oh，howhardyouwerewithhim，mydear！”Mrs。Marchlamented。
“Iwish。”hesaid，“ifourboyeverwentwrongthatsomeonewouldbeastruetohimasIwastothatpoorfellow。Hecondemnedhimself；andhewasright；hehasbehavedverybadly。”
“Youalwaysoverdothingsso，whenyouactrighteously！”
“Now，Isabel！”
“Oh，yes，Iknowwhatyouwillsay。ButIshouldhavetemperedjusticewithmercy。”
HernervestingledwithpityforBurnamy，butinherheartshewasgladthatherhusbandhadhadstrengthtosidewithhimagainsthimself，andshewasproudoftheforbearancewithwhichhehaddoneit。Intheirearliermarriedlifeshewouldhaveconfidentlytakentheinitiativeonallmoralquestions。ShestillbelievedthatshewasbetterfittedfortheirdecisionbyherPuritantraditionandherNewEnglandbirth，butonceinagreatcrisiswhenitseemedaquestionoftheirliving，shehadweakenedbeforeit，andhe，withnosuchadvantages，hadsomehowmettheissuewithcourageandconscience。Shecouldnotbelievehedidsobyinspiration，butshehadsincelethimtakethebruntofallsuchissuesandtheresponsibility。Hemadenoreply，andshesaid：“Isupposeyou’lladmitnowtherewasalwayssomethingpeculiarinthepoorboy’smannertoStoller。”
Hewouldconfessnomorethanthatthereoughttohavebeen。“Idon’tseehowhecouldstaggerthroughwiththatloadonhisconscience。
I’mnotsureIlikehisbeingabletodoso。”
Shewassilentinthemisgivingwhichshesharedwithhim，butshesaid：
“IwonderhowfarithasgonewithhimandMissTriscoe？”
“Well，fromhiswantingyoutogivehismessagetothegeneralintheplural——“
“Don’tlaugh！It“swickedtolaugh！It’sheartless！”shecried，hysterically。“Whatwillhedo，poorfellow？”
“I’veanideathathewilllightonhisfeet，somehow。But，atanyrate，he’sdoingtherightthingingoingtoownuptoStoller。”
“Oh，Stoller！IcarenothingforStoller！Don’tspeaktomeofStoller！”
BurnamyfondtheBirdofPrey，ashenolongerhadthehearttocallhim，walkingupanddowninhisroomlikeaneaglecaughtinatrap。Heerectedhiscrestfiercelyenough，though，whentheyoungfellowcameinathisloudlyshouted，“Herein！”
“Whatdoyouwant？”hedemanded，brutally。
ThissimplifiedBurnamy’stask，whileitmadeitmoreloathsome。Heanswerednotmuchlessbrutally，“IwanttotellyouthatIthinkIusedyoubadly，thatIletyoubetrayyourself，thatIfeelmyselftoblame。”
Hecouldhaveadded，“Curseyou！”withoutchangeoftone。
Stollersneeredinaderisionthatshowedhislowerteethlikeadog’swhenhesnarls。“Youwanttogetback！”
“No。”saidBurnamy，mildly，andwithincreasingsadnessashespoke。
“Idon’twanttogetback。Nothingwouldinduceme。I’mgoingawayonthefirsttrain。”
“Well，you’renot！”shoutedStoller。“You’veliedmeintothis——“
“Lookout！”Burnamyturnedwhite。
“Didn’tyouliemeintoit，ifyouletmefoolmyself，asyousay？”
Stollerpursued，andBurnamyfelthimselfweakenthroughhiswrath。
“Well，then，yougottoliemeoutofit。Ibeengoingoverthedamnthing，allnight——andyoucandoitforme。Iknowyoucandoit。”hegavewayinapleathatwasalmostawhimper。“Lookhere！Youseeifyoucan’t。I’llmakeitallrightwithyou。I’llpayyouwhateveryouthinkisright——whateveryousay。”
“Oh！”saidBurnamy，inotherwiseunutterabledisgust。
“Youkin。”Stollerwenton，breakingdownmoreandmoreintohisadoptedHoosier，inthestressofhisanxiety。“Iknowyoukin，Mr。Burnamy。”
HepushedthepapercontaininghisletterintoBurnamy’shands，andpointedoutasuccessionofmarkedpassages。“There！Andhere！Andthisplace！Don’tyouseehowyoucouldmakeoutthatitmeantsomethingelse，orwasjustironical？”Hewentontoprovehowthetextmightbegiventhecomplexionhewished，andBurnamysawthathehadreallythoughtitnotimpossiblyout。“Ican’tputitinwritingaswellasyou；butI’vedoneallthework，andallyou’vegottodoistogiveitsomeofthemturnsofyours。I’llcablethefellowsinourofficetosayI’vebeenmisrepresented，andthatmycorrectioniscoming。We’llgetitintoshapeheretogether，andthenI’llcablethat。Idon’tcareforthemoney。AndI’llgetourcounting-roomtoseethisscoundrel“——hepickedupthepaperthathadhadfunwithhim——“andfixhimallright，sothathe’llaskforasuspensionofpublicopinion，and——Yousee，don’tyou？”
ThethingdidappealtoBurnamy。Ifitcouldbedone，itwouldenablehimtomakeStollerthereparationhelongedtomakehimmorethananythingelseintheworld。Butheheardhimselfsaying，verygently，almosttenderly，“Itmightbedone，Mr。Stoller。ButIcouldn’tdoit。
Itwouldn’tbehonest——forme。”
“Yah！”yelledStoller，andhecrushedthepaperintoawadandflungitintoBurnamy’sface。“Honest，youdamnhumbug！Youletmeinforthis，whenyouknewIdidn’tmeanit，andnowyouwon’thelpmeoutbecauseita’n’thonest！Getoutofmyroom，andgetoutquickbeforeI——“
HehurledhimselftowardBurnamy，whostraightenedhimself，with“Ifyoudare！“Heknewthathewasrightinrefusing；butheknewthatStollerwasright，too，andthathehadnotmeantthelogicofwhathehadsaidinhisletter，andofwhatBurnamyhadlethimimply。HebravedStoller’sonset，andhelefthispresenceuntouched，butfeelingaslittleamoralheroashewellcould。
