Yet he remembered that Uncle Ben had ac-
cepted without reproach and as a good joke
much more direct accusations from Rupert
FUgee, and that he himself had acted from
a conscientious sense of duty towards the
man. But a conscientious sense of duty to



CRESS T. 85

inflict pain upon a fellow-mortal for his own
good does not always bring perfect serenity
to the inflicter — possibly because, in the de-
fective machinery of human compensation,
pain is the only quality that is apt to appear
in the illustration. Mr. Ford felt uncom-
fortable, and being so, was naturally vexed
at the innocent cause. Why should Uncle
Ben be offended because he had simply de-
clined to foUow his weak fabrications any
further? This was his return for having
tolerated it at first ! It would be a lesson
to him henceforth. Nevertheless he got
up and went to the door. The figure of Un-
cle Ben was already indistinct among the
leaves, but from the motion of his shoulders
he seemed to be stiU stepping high and
softly as if not yet clear of insecure and en-
gulfing ground.
The silence stiU continuing, the master
began mechanically to look over the desks
for forgotten or mislaid articles, and to rear-
range the pupils' books and copies. A few
heartsease fathered by the devoted Octavia
Dean, neatly tied with a black thread and
regularly left in the inkstand cavity of Ru-
pert's desk, were still lying on the floor
where they had been always hurled with



86 CRESS 1.
equal regularity by that disdainful Adonis.
