“And did he escape?” the minister interrupted.
“He thought himself safe,” continued Orme, “but my friend had caught the back of the motor-car just as it started. He climbed silently into the tonneau, and throwing his arm around the neck of the thief, pulled him backward from his seat.
“The car was ditched, and my friend and the thief were both thrown out. My friend was not hurt. The thief, however, had his leg broken.”
“What happened then?” inquired the minister; for Orme had paused.
“Oh, my friend took the proxies from the thief’s pocket and walked away. He stopped at the nearest farmhouse and sent help back.”
“Even in America,” commented the minister, “the frien’s of the injured man might see that his hurt was avenge. The man who caused the accident should be made to suffer.”
“Oh, no,” said Orme. “If the matter were pressed at all, the correct thing to do would be to arrest the man with the broken leg. He had stolen the papers in the first place. Harm came to him, when he tried to escape with the papers after stealing them. But as a matter of fact, the average American would consider the affair at an end.”
“Your story and mine are dissimilar,” remarked the minister.
“Perhaps. But they involve a similar question: whether a man should yield passively to a power that appears to be stronger than his own. In America we do not yield passively unless we understand all the bearings of the case, and see that it is right to yield.”
At this moment a motor-car came up the drive. “There’s our car, Bob,” said Bessie. “Wait a moment, while I get my wraps. I know that you are impatient to go.”