"Where's Forrester?" asked Enoch as they gathered round the stew pot.
"He mumbled something about going outside to cool down," replied Agnew.
"Better let him alone for a while."
"Too bad you couldn't have kept the peace, under the circumstances,
Harden," said Enoch.
"You heard what he said to me?" demanded Harden fiercely.
"Yes, I did and I heard you deliberately tease him into a fury. Of course, after what he finally said there was nothing left to do but to smash him," said Enoch.
"I don't see why," Agnew spoke in his calm way. "I never could understand why a bloody nose wiped out an insult. A thing that's said is said. Shooting a man even doesn't unsay a dirty speech. It's not common sense. Why ruin your own life in the effort to punish a man for something that's better forgotten?"
"So you would swallow an insult and smile?" sneered Harden.
"Not at all! I wouldn't hear the alleged insult, in most cases. But if the thing was so raw that the man had to be punished, I'd really hurt him."
"How?" asked Enoch.
"I'd do him a favor."