“‘What an ass!’ Harry exclaimed, and the old Bishop seemed to indorse his view. ‘By the blue beard of the Caliph, what am I to do?’
“‘Pay it,’ I insisted.
“‘Pay it and die,’ he groaned. ‘I shall have to do it somehow, but this kind of thing is grinding me.’
“‘You can go to my ranch in Wyoming and live on nothing for six months,’ I said. ‘When you get back I’ll lend you enough to tide you over!
“‘I’ll do it,’ he said, as if it were the very straw he had been reaching for.
“Then he began to tell me of other troubles. Marie had been decidedly cool to Harry at the servants’ ball. Then he had met her on the street, and she had barely noticed him and hurried away, with the young Reverend Robert Knowles at her side. Harry was, fortunately, going slow, but he had received internal injuries and was suffering from shock.
“‘The old man is at the bottom of it,’ I explained. ‘You gave him a dose from the wrong bottle. It p’isoned him.’
“‘By Jove! What a prude he is!’ said Harry. ‘Upon my word that is one of the noblest books I ever read––contains a great lesson, don’t you know? It takes you straight to the heights.’
“‘Too straight,’ I said. ‘It turns out for nothing. It crosses a morass to avoid going around. When you reach the high ground you are covered with mud and slime. You need to be washed and disinfected, and perhaps you’ve caught a 122 fever that will last as long as you live. Many a boy and girl have got mired in this swamp fiction that you enjoy so much. There are many of us who prefer to go around the swamp and keep on a decent footing even if it takes longer.’