XX
"TRUEMAN! TRUEMAN! TRUEMAN!"
“Often do the spirits
Of great events stride on before the events,
And in to-day already walks to-morrow.”
COLERIDGE.
INSTANTLY a great dread seized me. What revelations might not this man be going to make! But I subdued the feeling; and, greeting him with what cordiality I could, settled myself to listen to his explanations.
But Trueman Harwell had no explanations to give, or so it seemed; on the contrary, he had come to apologize for the very violent words he had used the evening before; words which, whatever their effect upon me, he now felt bound to declare had been used without sufficient basis in fact to make their utterance of the least importance.
“But you must have thought you had grounds for so tremendous an accusation, or your act was that of a madman.”
His brow wrinkled heavily, and his eyes assumed a very gloomy expression. “It does not follow,” he returned. “Under the pressure of surprise, I have known men utter convictions no better founded than mine without running the risk of being called mad.”
“Surprise? Mr. Clavering’s face or form must,
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