He could not tell him all that he knew of Etta's past.

None of these things could Karl Steinmetz, in the philosophy that was his, tell to the person whom they most concerned.

And who are we that we may hold him wrong?
The question of telling and withholding is not to be dismissed in a few words.

But it seems very certain that there is too much telling, too much speaking out, and too little holding in, in these days of much publicity.

There is a school of speakers-out, and would to Heaven they would learn to hold their tongues.