Jed sprang to his feet so suddenly that his
chair fell to the floor.
"Know about it!" he burst forth, with such fierce indignation that
the captain actually gasped in astonishment. "Know about it!"
repeated Jed. "What do I know about givin' up my own plans and--
and hopes, do you mean? Oh, my Lord above! Ain't I been givin'
'em up and givin' 'em up all my lifelong? When I was a boy didn't
I give up the education that might have made me a--a MAN instead
of--of a town laughin' stock? While Mother lived was I doin' much
but give up myself for her? I ain't sayin' 'twas any more'n right
that I should, but I did it, didn't I? And ever since it's been
the same way. I tell you, I've come to believe that life for me
means one 'give up' after the other and won't mean anything but
that till I die. And you--you ask me what I know about it! YOU
do!"
Captain Sam was so taken aback that he was almost speechless. In
all his long acquaintance with Jed Winslow he had never seen him
like this.
"Why--why, Jed!" he stammered. But Jed was not listening. He
strode across the room and seized his visitor by the arm.
"You go home, Sam Hunniwell," he ordered. "Go home and think--
THINK, I tell you. All your life you've had just what I haven't.
You married the girl you wanted and you and she were happy
together. You've been looked up to and respected here in Orham;
folks never laughed at you or called you 'town crank.
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