I
imagine the Almighty will take the intent into consideration, if human
justice finds it expedient to do so!"
Paul shrugged his shoulders. Argument was not his strong point, and,
like most men who cannot argue, he was almost impervious to the
arguments of others. He recognized the necessity for secrecy--the
absolute need of a thousand little secretive precautions and disguises
which were intensely disagreeable to him. But he also grumbled at them
freely, and whenever he made such objection Karl Steinmetz grew uneasy,
as if the question which he disposed of with facile philosophy or
humorous resignation had behind it a possibility and an importance of
which he was fully aware. It was on these rare occasions that he might
have conveyed to a keen observer the impression that he was playing a
very dangerous game with a smiling countenance.
"All that we do," pursued Steinmetz, "is to bow to a lamentable
necessity for deceit. I have bowed to it all my life. It has been my
trade, perhaps. It is not our fault that we are placed in charge of four
or five thousand human beings who are no more capable of helping
themselves than are sheep. It is not our fault that the forefathers of
these sheep cut down the forests and omitted to plant more, so that the
flocks with whom we have to deal have no fuel. It is not our fault that
a most terrific winter annually renders the land unproductive for four
months.
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