change a little; only it did not change
nearly so much as she meant it to. He gave an embarrassed
little laugh....

"But oh, _please_," said the voice of Mats, near by, "do go back and
tell me what _terminology_ means. You don't know how _terribly stupid
_I am...."

"Of course, it isn't nearly so bad as that," said he. "Factory work is
hard at best, you know. And conditions in it are never very good, rarely
even so good as they might be, as it seems to me. But this little friend
of mine that I--I mentioned, she's--"

"Why did you mention her to me at all?"

The tall young man in the fat-man's dress-suit gazed down. He pushed
back his crisp hair....

It was true that one from the outskirts could rise now and gird up his
loins: the scribes actually called before the flap of his tent. True, in
the most technical sense, that is.... And yet--was the passing social
moment a proper occasion to shout and preach at the unlessoned upon the
grim subject of their moral opportunities in this so complex world?
Where was even the solitude be hind the rubber plants which Kern had
(practically) guaranteed? Was it kind, was it even well-mannered, to
spoil a young girl's pleasure at an evening party with bitter talk of
fire-escapes and overstrained floors? John the Baptist, God knows,
should have been a gentleman....

But if any thoughts like this played through the alien's mind, he
certainly wore no air of perplexity or hesitancy. He answered without
pause, in quite a gentle way:

"Well, it just seemed to come in naturally somehow. We just seemed to
drift into it...."

But it was no time for gentleness now. Carlisle Heth was whipping up her
anger to destroy him. And all the time, a part of her (the largest part,
it seemed) knew quite well that she was whipping it up: wondered why it
didn't surge more spontaneously, as she had such a perfect right to
expect....

"But conditions _are_ homicidal in my father's factory, are they not?"

"Oh," said the man ... "Well, as to that--of course opinions would
differ somewhat as to what consti--"

"You seem to--to have more courage in your opinions when you're writing
letters," she flung at him, bright cheeked.... "Are they homicidal?"

V. Vivian's eyes had fallen before her indignant gaze. It was only too
clear by now that she hadn't forgiven him--what wonder?--and probably
never would.... Still, when he raised his eyes again, the girl saw in
them a look quite different from what sh