"Do you understand why I tell you this ?" I shook my head.
"To avoid killing you at twenty paces across the river....

I had rather tell you than do that." "So that you have told me," said I, "the reason for your telling matters nothing.

And my business with you ends with your answer....
Only--she is my friend, Boyd--a playmate of pleasant days.

And if you can efface that wretchedness from her face--brighten the quenched sparkle of her eyes, paint her cheeks with rose again--do it, in God's name, and make of me a friend for life." "Shall I tell you what has gone amiss--from the very first there at Otsego ?" "No--that concerns not me----" "Yes, I shall tell you! It's that she knew about--the wench here--Dolly Glenn." "Is that why she refuses you and elects to remain unhappy ?" I said incredulously.
"Yes--I can say no more....

You are right, Loskiel, and such men as I are wrong--utterly and wretchedly wrong.