It was ridiculous enough, of course, but Jed did not feel like smiling.

The bitterness of the little man's final curse was not humorous.

Neither was the heartbreak in his tone when he spoke of his boy.

Jed felt no self-reproach; he had advised Leander just as he might have advised his own son had his life been like other men's lives, normal men who had married and possessed sons.

He had no sympathy for Phineas Babbitt's vindictive hatred of all those more fortunate than he or who opposed him, or for his silly and selfish ideas concerning the war.