There is some sort
of integrity in a man who can fight the battle I have--and without
wavering or whimpering. I'll do that for you, Mary. It's the safest
way."
She had heard him at first with a sickening horror in her soul. It was
a frightful compromise that he proposed. She knew he meant it, that he
would keep his word. She understood how great the sacrifice would be
on his part, how bitter the defeat; and she realized that he was doing
it to justify himself in her eyes. As he got deeper into his amazing
proposition, her clearing brain began to discern the rift in his
armor. Not that she saw a sign of weakness beyond, but that the
humanness of his strength was being revealed to her. There was an
authority in his offer that dispelled all doubt as to the cloudiness
of his mental vision. He was seeing things clearly. His sacrifice lay
in the willingness to forego the joy of killing another man before he
carried out his original design to make way with himself. She studied
his face for a moment before speaking. There was something like
gladness there--a truly bright glow that told of the relief he had
found in at last doing something to please her!
"Is there no other way, Tom?" she asked, so quietly that his eyes
narrowed with a curious intentness.
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