"
Jed looked greatly pleased, but he shook his head. "I'm afraid her
confidence ain't founded on a rock, like the feller's house in the
Bible," he drawled. "My decisions are liable to stick half way
betwixt and between, same as--er--Jeremiah's do. But," he added,
gravely, "I have been thinkin' pretty seriously about you and your
particular puzzle, Charlie, and--and I ain't sure that I don't see
one way out of the fog. It may be a hard way, and it may turn out
wrong, and it may not be anything you'll agree to. But--"
"What is it? If it's anything even half way satisfactory I'll
believe you're the wisest man on earth, Jed Winslow."
"Well, if I thought you was liable to believe that I'd tell you to
send your believer to the blacksmith's 'cause there was somethin'
wrong with it. No, I ain't wise, far from it. But, Charlie, I
think you're dead right about what you say concernin' Maud and her
father and you. You CAN'T tell her without tellin' him. For your
own sake you mustn't tell him without tellin' her. And you
shouldn't, as a straight up and down, honorable man keep on workin'
for Sam when you ask him, under these circumstances, to give you
his daughter. You can't afford to have her say 'yes' because she
pities you, nor to have him give in to her because she begs him to.
No, you want to be independent, to go to both of 'em and say:
'Here's my story and here am I.
Pages:
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403