But the merciless judgment had turned
the scale. With a control of himself which struck Burns, as he recalled
it afterward, as marvellous, Leaver answered evenly: "You shall not have
the chance to say that again. I will operate when you think best."
"Thank God!" said Red Pepper Burns, under his breath.
The two walked out of the little white room, with its austere and
absolute cleanliness, without another word concerning that which was to
come. Burns took his friend over the house, and Leaver looked into room
after room, approving, commending, even suggesting, quite as if nothing
had happened. And yet, after all, not quite as if nothing had happened.
He was not the same man who had come out to Sunny Farm an hour before.
Burns knew, as well as if he could have seen into Leaver's mind, the
conflict that was going on there. The thing was settled, he would not
retreat, yet there was still a fight to be fought--the biggest fight of
his life. On its issue was to depend the success or failure of the coming
test. Burns's warm heart would have led him to speak sympathetically and
encouragingly of the issue to be met; his understanding of the crisis it
precipitated kept him mute. Whatever help he was now to give his friend
must be given, not through speech but through silence, and by that
subtler means of communication between spirit and spirit which cannot be
analyzed or understood, but which may be more real than anything in life.
Pages:
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205