mpossible--unthinkable, as they say at Concord. Clarice would never
forgive me: that would be bad, but not the worst. It would be disloyal
to her--distinctly so. That I've never been yet, and I'm too old to
begin now. There may be cases in which the end justifies the means, but
this is not one of them. No: I must dree this weird (if that is the
expression), and hoe this row, all by myself. If I had been bred in the
east, I should be tempted to say it was a contumelious responsibility.
The next time you want to get into difficulties with a lady, James
Hartman, you must do it on some other premises than mine.

XXII.

AN ORDEAL.

Next morning I was nosing about in the library, pretending to be looking
for a book, when Clarice came to me and said, "I don't think what you
want is here. Leave business this afternoon, and take me to the Park."

If she were to say, "Leave business this year, and take me to Europe, or
to Madagascar," I should do it: she would have to arrange the matter
with Mabel, but that she could do without difficulty, I have not the
least doubt. It would be a loss to Water Street, and my departure would
be felt in business circles generally; but they would have to stand it
as they might. In this case, however, no heavy sacrifice was involved:
for a few hours, or days, or weeks, Pipeline, as Mabel says, can conduct
the old stand well enough. What it needs is the feeling that a master
mind presides over its destinies, though from such a distance as Newport
or the Wayback woods.

We agreed on an hour--that is, she told me to be at the door at two--and
I went down town, feeling relieved. It is much better for Clarice to
take the responsibility of opening communications, and I wish she would
conduct the whole interview, like a major-general with his aid-de-camp
or a master plumber sending out his apprentices to mend the
pipes--leaving me only to take notes of instructions. But that is too
much to expect. It is a delicate task before me, and my talents for such
(according to the ladies), are not so eminent that I should be anxious
to overwork them. I can manage a man, and some women perhaps; but to
catechize and cross-examine her on a subject as to which pride, and
honor, and modesty lock a girl's lips--I don't see how I can do it,
even with her consent. I would rather smoke my pipe through a powder
mill than hurt you, my poor Princess: my clumsy fingers were never made
to play about your heartstrings