"Promise me you will not strive to destroy yourselves again."
They looked at each other.
"It is cowardly, unworthy of gentlemen."
"Cowardly!" and the hot blood rose in their faces.
"Base cowardice."
"None ever called me coward before; but you are a priest."
"My children, will you not promise? Then you shall not be confined as you otherwise must be——"
"Let them confine us; we can dash our heads against the walls!"
"For my sake, then; they hurt me when they hurt you."