I was behind
the hedge. I have broken through upon the road. I know my goal now. The
highway is before me."
She felt the tragedy in his words, and her voice shook as she spoke. "I
wish I knew life better. Then I could make a better answer. You are on
the road, you say. But I feel that it is a hard and cruel road--oh, I
understand that at least! Tell me, please, tell me the whole truth. You
are hiding from me what you feel. I have upset your life, have I not? You
are a Quaker, and Quakers are better than all other Christian people, are
they not? Their faith is peace, and for me, you--" She covered her face
with her hands for an instant, but turned quickly and looked him in the
eyes: "For me you put your hand upon the clock of a man's life, and
stopped it."
She got to her feet with a passionate gesture, but he put a hand gently
upon her arm, and she sank back again. "Oh, it was not you; it was I who
did it!" she said. "You did what any man of honour would have done, what
a brother would have done."
"What I did is a matter for myself only," he responded quickly.
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