All his fiery determination to be what he had once been--Seth Bascom, the self-respecting man and husband--collapsed and vanished.

He groaned in abject surrender.

He could not go through it again; he was afraid.

Of any other person on earth he would not have been, but the unexpected resurrection of Bennie D.made him a hesitating coward.

Therefore he was silent when his wife left him, and he realized that his opportunity was gone, gone forever.
In utter misery and self-hatred he sat, with his head in his hands, beside the kitchen table until eleven o'clock.