though his heart was breaking, his voice was steady--steady as it always
had been.

"I--I've seen it comin', Cynthy," he said. "I never knowed anything I was
afraid of before--but I was afraid of this. I knowed what your notions of
right and wrong was--your--your mother had them. They're the principles
of good people. I--I knowed the day would come when you'd ask, but I
wanted to be happy as long as I could. I hain't been happy, Cynthy. But
you was right when you said I'd tell you the truth. S-so I will. I guess
them things which you speak about are true--the way I got where I am, and
the way I made my livin'. They--they hain't put just as they'd ought to
be, perhaps, but that's the way I done it in the main."

It was thus that Jethro Bass met the supreme crisis of his life. And who
shall say he did not meet it squarely and honestly? Few men of finer
fibre and more delicate morals would have acquitted themselves as well.
That was a Judgment Day for Jethro; and though he knew it not, he spoke
through Cynthia to his Maker, confessing his faults freely and humbly,
and dwelling on the justness of his punishment; putting not forward any
good he may have done; nor thinking of it; nor seeking excuse because of
the light that was in him. Had he been at death's door in the face of
nameless tortures, no man could have dragged such a confession from him.
But a great love had been given him, and to that love he must speak the
truth, even at the cost of losing it.

But he was not to lose it. Even as he was speaking a thrill of admiration
ran through Cynthia, piercing her sorrow. The superb strength of the man
was there in that simple confession, and it is in the nature of woman to
admire strength. He had fought his fight, and gained, and paid the price
without a murmur, seeking no palliation. Cynthia had not come to that