“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。