And yet Mr. Gabe Bearse, had he seen the major's shadow upon the
Armstrong window curtain, might have speculated much.
CHAPTER XV
The pity which Jed felt for Phineas Babbitt caused him to keep
silent concerning his Thanksgiving evening interview with the
hardware dealer. At first he was inclined to tell Major Grover of
Babbitt's expressions concerning the war and his son's enlistment.
After reflection, however, he decided not to do so. The Winslow
charity was wide enough to cover a multitude of other people's sins
and it covered those of Phineas. The latter was to be pitied; as
to fearing him, as a consequence of his threat to "get square," Jed
never thought of such a thing. If he felt any anxiety at all in
the matter it was a trifling uneasiness because his friends, the
Hunniwells and the Armstrongs, were included in the threat. But he
was inclined to consider Mr. Babbitt's wrath as he had once
estimated the speech of a certain Ostable candidate for political
office, to be "like a tumbler of plain sody water, mostly fizz and
froth and nothin' very substantial or fillin'." He did not tell
Grover of the interview in the shop; he told no one, not even Ruth
Armstrong.
The--to him, at least--delightful friendship and intimacy between
himself and his friends and tenants continued. He and Charlie
Phillips came to know each other better and better.
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