“No, to young Christians. I don’t know what our good deacons will say about it.” She illuminated her severity with a flashing smile. “Don’t you know that the sins of the fathers are to descend upon their children even to the third and fourth generation? Don’t you know that when a man does wrong he must die punished, and his children and his wife, of course, and that the proper thing to do is to stand back and thank Heaven we haven’t been vile sinners?” “Now, don’t you begin on that, Miss Virginia,” he warned. “And after the man had disgraced himself and shot you, after all respectable people had given him an extra kick to let him know he must stay down and had then turned their backs upon him. I’m not surprised that you’re ashamed.” “Where did you get hold of this fairy-tale?” he plucked up courage to demand. “From Norma Pelton. She told me everything, the whole story from beginning to end.” “It’s right funny you should be calling on her, and you a respectable young lady—unless you went to deliver that extra kick you was mentioning,” he grinned. She dropped her raillery. “It was splendid. I meant to ask Mr. Ridgway to do something for them, but this is so much better. It takes them away from the place of his disgrace and away from temptation. Oh, I don’t wonder Norma kissed you.” “She told you that, too, did she?” “Yes. I should have done it, too, in her place.” He glanced round placidly. “It’s a right public place here, but—” “Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to.” And before she disappeared within the portals of the department store she gave him one last thrust. “It’s not so public up in the library. Perhaps if you happen to be going that way?” She left her communication a fragment, but he thought it worth acting upon. Among the library shelves he found Laska deep in a new volume on domestic science. “This ain’t any kind of day to be fooling away your time on cook-books. Come out into the sun and live,” he invited. They walked past the gallows-frames and the slag-dumps and the shaft-houses into the brown hills beyond the point where green copper streaks showed and spurred the greed of man. It was a day of spring sunshine, the good old earth astir with her annual recreation. The roadside was busy with this serious affair of living. Ants and crawling things moved to and fro about their business. Squirrels raced across the road and stood up at a safe distance to gaze at these intruders. Birds flashed back and forth, hurried little carpenters busy with the specifications for their new nests. Eager palpitating life was the key-note of the universe. “Virginia told me about the Peltons,” Laska said, after a pause. “It’s spreading almost as fast as if it were a secret,” he smiled. “I’m expecting to find it in the paper when we get back.” “I’m so glad you did it.” “Well, you’re to blame.” “I!” She looked at him in surprise. “Partly. You told me how things were going with them. That seemed to put it up to me to give Pelton a chance.”