eir glances must have flashed fire. Jerry's face was red, I'm sure,
and his fingers were twitching to get hold of something, but the girl
didn't flinch. Jerry told me afterward that he found his anger
softening strangely as he looked at her and in a moment they were both
smiling. The girl spoke first.

"I've gone too far, Jerry. Forgive me."

"Of course," he said awkwardly. "I suppose you've got a right to your
opinions. But it isn't very pleasant to be told that one's life is a
failure."

"I didn't say that," she put in quickly. "You haven't failed, of
course. You've missed something, but you've gained something too." Her
words trailed slowly again and her gaze sought the deep woods. "Yes,"
she repeated softly and thoughtfully, "I'm very sure you've gained
something."

"What have I gained?"

There was a long pause before she replied.

"Simplicity," she said carefully. "Life, after all, nowadays, is so
very complex," she sighed.

But when he questioned as to what she meant, she waved him off. "No,
I've said enough. I didn't intend to. Don't let's talk any more about
what I think. Let's talk about what _you_ think, what you read, what
you do. People say you live in the woods most of the time--do you?
Where? How?"

"In a cabin. We built it. Would you like to see it? It's not far. I'll
make you a cup of tea."

As the reader will perceive, in these two conversations, lasting
perhaps two hours, this slip of a girl, in mere idle curiosity, had
touched with her silly chatter the vital, the vulnerable points of
Jerry's philosophy of life. Fate had not been fair to me or with him.
Less than a year; remained of Jerry's period of probation. In December
the boy was to go out into the world. And through an unfortunate
accident due to a broken iron, a chaos of half-baked ideas had come
pouring through the breach. If I said that my labors of ten years had
been useless or that the fruition of John Benham's ideals for his son
were still in doubt I should be putting the matter too strongly, but I
have no hesitancy in confessing that the appearance of the girl had at
least put them in jeopardy. She had turned his mind into a direction
which I had carefully avoided. He must think now and ask questions
that I could not be ready to answer. By this time it must be well
understood that I have no love for women, but I will do this girl the
credit of saying that in a general way she saw fit to respect Jerry's
artlessness. I think th