Anthonyandhebehavedwithadiscretionbeyondhisyears。Somenicechildrenoftendo；andsurelyitisnotfromreflection。Theyhavetheirowninspirations。YoungPowell’sinspirationconsistedinbeing”enthusiastic”aboutMrs。Anthony。’Enthusiastic’isreallygood。Andhewasamongstthemlikeachild，sensitive，impressionable，plastic——butunabletofindforhimselfanysortofcomment。
Idon’tknowhowmuchminemaybeworth；butIbelievethatjustthenthetensionofthefalsesituationwasatitshighest。Ofalltheformsofferedtousbylifeitistheonedemandingacoupletorealizeitfully，whichisthemostimperative。Pairingoffisthefateofmankind。Andiftwobeingsthrowntogether，mutuallyattracted，resistthenecessity，failinunderstandingandvoluntarilystopshortofthe——theembrace，inthenoblestmeaningoftheword，thentheyarecommittingasinagainstlife，thecallofwhichissimple。Perhapssacred。Andthepunishmentofitisaninvasionofcomplexity，atormenting，forciblytortuousinvolutionoffeelings，thedeepestformofsufferingfromwhichindeedsomethingsignificantmaycomeatlast，whichmaybecriminalorheroic，maybemadnessorwisdom——orevenastraightifdespairingdecision。
PowellontakinghiseyesofftheoldgentlemannoticedCaptainAnthony，swarthyasanAfrican，bythesideofFlorawhiterthanthelilies，takehishandkerchiefoutandwipeoffhisforeheadthesweatofanguish——likeamanwhoisovercome。”Andnowonder，”
commentedMr。Powellhere。Thenthecaptainsaid，”Hadn’tyoubettergobacktoyourroom。”ThiswastoMrs。Anthony。Hetriedtosmileather。”Whydoyoulookstartled？Thisnightislikeanyothernight。””Which，”Powellagaincommentedtomeearnestly，”wasalie……Nowonderhesweated。”YouseefromthisthevalueofPowell’scomments。Mrs。Anthonythensaid:”Whyareyousendingmeaway？””Why！Thatyoushouldgotosleep。Thatyoushouldrest。”AndCaptainAnthonyfrowned。Thensharply，”Youstayhere，Mr。Powell。
Ishallwantyoupresently。”