Late—299 opened the book.
... “‘But at last in the drift of time Hadleyburg had the ill-luck to offend a passing stranger, possibly without knowing it, certainly without caring, for Hadleyburg was sufficient unto itself and cared not a rap for strangers and their opinions. Still, it would have been well to make an exception in this one’s case, for he was a bitter man and revengeful.’”
“Ah!” interjected the blind man deeply, “there you ’ave it. Talkin’ of feelin’s, what gave you a fellow-feelin’ for me, if I may ask?”
“I can look at you, my friend, without your seeing me.”
“Eh! What about it with other people, then?”
“They can look at me without my seeing them.”
“I see! Misanthropical. Any reason for that?”
“Prison.”
“What oh! Outcast and rejected of men.”
“No. The other way on.”