AtthisIlookedathimblankly。“Itisn’tpossiblethat——“
Againhecutmeshortwithalaughalmostsavage。“Youneedn’ttoworryaboutSteve。Hestayedgame。“
WhatthenhadbeenthematterthatheshouldkeepseeingSteve——thathisvisionshouldsoobliteratefromhimwhatIstillshiveredat，andsoshakehimnow？ForheseemedtobegrowingmorestirredasIgrewless。Iaskedhimnofurtherquestions，however，andwewentonforseveralminutes，hebroodingalwaysinthesamefashion，untilheresumedwiththehardindifferencethathadbeforesurprisedme:-“SoEdgaveyoufeelings！Dumbagueandsoforth。“
“Nodoubtwe’renotmadethesameway，“Iretorted。
Hetooknonoticeofthis。“Andyou’dhavebeenmorecomfortableifhe’dactedsameasStevedid。Itcert’nlywasbadseeingEdtakeitthatway，Ireckon。Andyoudidn’tseehimwhenthetimecameforbusiness。Well，here’swhatitis:amanmaybesuchaconfirrnedmiscreantthatkilling’stheonlycureforhim；butstillhe’syourownspecies，andyoudon’twanttohavehimfallaroundandgrabyourlaigsandshowyouhisfearnaked。Itmakesyoufeelashamed。SoEdgaveyoufeelings，andStevemadeeverythingrighteasyforyou！“Therewasironyinhisvoiceashesurveyedme，butitfellawayatonceintosadness。“Bothwasmiscreants。ButifStevehadplayedthecoward，too，itwouldhavebeenawholeheapeasierforme。“Hepausedbeforeadding，“AndStevewasnotamiscreantonce。“