“Will you promise never to speak to me or anyone of your past life?”
“I will not speak of it again.”
“Then you may go to the entrance gate with me, and there I will decide if I can take you in.”
We talked on the way to the farm about many things—for he had read and traveled much. We made no mention of the Family or its work, but as we came near the Colony House I stopped.
“Tell me,” I said, “did they teach you a trade at Elmira?”
“I’m a metal roofer by trade,” he said.
“Did you learn the trade in prison?” I asked him.
“I think you mistake me for some other man,” he replied, quietly. “I know nothing about prison life.”
“What do you mean, not only your friend told me that you had served a term, but you told me yourself?” I said, severely.