"Yes, it is! And he is horribly sorry, and so is Marthy, and they'll pay you for the cattle. And if you do anything mean about it, it will simply kill poor old Marthy. You couldn't send her to the pen, Mr. Seabeck. Think how she's worked there in the Cove; and Charlie has worked like a perfect slave; and he was trying to get a start so he—could—get married—"
"Hm-mm!" Rumors had reached Seabeck, thanks to Billy Louise's dropped lashes upon a certain occasion, which caused him to believe he saw further light.
"And if you're going to be horrid—"
"Will the—lady he wants to marry give him another chance?"
"Don't you think she ought to—if she l-loves him?" Billy Louise studied the skyline upon the side farthest from Seabeck.
"You say he wants to pay for the cattle and—"
"He'll do anything he can to make amends," said Billy Louise, with conviction. "He'll take his medicine and go to jail if you insist," she added sorrowfully. "It will ruin his whole life, of course, and break a couple of women's hearts, but—"
"It's a bad thing, a mighty bad thing, when a man tries to get ahead too fast."
"It's a good thing when he learns the lesson without having to pay for it with his whole future," Billy Louise amended the statement.
Seabeck smiled a little behind his fingers that kept tugging at his whiskers.