“Bless her heart,” he was saying to himself. “It’s great! What a mucker I am to begrudge her anything. I hope this guy is good enough for her, that’s all. If he isn’t—” here his face darkened again—“if he doesn’t treat her right after he gets her, I’ll make him wish he’d never been born.” His cogitations became more expansive. After a while they led him to strong decisions. “It’s up to me to give him a clear field. No butting in as if I owned the house and Jane and everything. It’s all right for me to say I’m an old friend, and all that, but old friends can make damned nuisances of themselves. I know how I’d feel if I was in love with a girl and some idiotic old friend kept on horning in on everything. Why, I’ve been up at Jane’s every night since I got to town—most of the afternoons, too. Monopolizing her. Making her unhappy. Making him—Yes, I’ve got to cut it out. It isn’t fair. She’s in love with him—at least, it looks that way. It’s going to spoil my visit down here, but I’ve got to do it. The town won’t seem natural or like home if I can’t play around with Jane—but, my Lord, our play days are over. He seems like a decent chap. I wonder how Mr. Sage feels about it? Heigh-ho! It certainly does beat the devil the way the war has turned everything upside down. Nothing is the same. It never can be the same. Let’s see—what did I say I had to do? Oh, yes—see Sammy Parr about something or other.” And yet, with the best intentions in the world, he was not allowed to carry them out. Jane had something to say about it. She met him face to face in the street three days after Sammy Parr’s wedding, and looking straight into his eyes, asked: “What is the matter, Oliver?” “Matter?” “Yes. What have I done?” “Done?” “Don’t be stupid. Have I offended you? Why haven’t you been up to see me?” He decided to be quite frank about it. “I guess you know the reason.” “I don’t know of any reason why you shouldn’t come to see me, unless it’s because you don’t care to.” “See here, Jane, we’ve always been pals. I know you like me just as much as you ever did, and I’d jump off of that building over there head first for your sake. I don’t know exactly how things stand with you and Lansing. I don’t think you are engaged to be married. If that were the case, I’m sure you would have told me so, but—” “We are not engaged to be married,” she said quietly.