“Dave,” Lester said in a trembling voice when at last he raised his head, “you’re the whitest man I know. When I think how I stole from you and lied to you—and then you treat me like this!” Again the sob came into his throat, and he could not go on.
David squeezed and kneaded the muscles of Lester’s arm. “You’re all right, Lester,” he said. “All you need is a little more muscle in another place than this. And you’re getting it.”
“I know I’m weak, weak as water,” said Lester. “But I never thought I was dishonest. Not even back in school, when I did that rotten thing to Mr. Dean—cribbing the lessons in class when he was blind. This is the first crooked thing I’ve done since then, and it’s worse, because I’m older; and I went from one mean and crooked thing to another—there seemed no end to it. Dave, do you think it will be that way with me always? Do you think that every once in so often I’ll give way and do some perfectly rotten, dishonorable thing?”
“Of course you won’t. You’ll never do anything of the sort again as long as you live. And now, old fellow, you’ve got it out of your system, and let’s not ever speak of it again. And everything will be as it was before, just as if it had never happened.”
“I don’t believe there’s another fellow in the world who could say that or think it,” said Lester. “But nothing can be quite as it was before, Dave. For instance, what ought I to do about running for marshal? Ever since I did this thing I’ve known that I’m the most unfit man in the class to be marshal. And I suppose there’s a chance of my being elected. What ought I to do?”
“I can’t see that you ought to do anything. I think you just ought to attend to your own affairs and let the election take its course.”
“But if I should happen to be elected I couldn’t enjoy the honor a bit.”
“That would be part of your punishment. But you can’t reject the honor before it comes to you, or even afterwards.”
“Don’t you think you ought to let it be known quietly that you’ve found I’m not the man for it, and that I think so, too, and would prefer not to have the fellows vote for me?”