Well, now,
considering what had happened, he didn't mind telling them that he had
been gradually getting possession of it, little by little, paying 'Lige
Curtis in advances and installments, until it was his own! They had
heard what those surveyors said; how that it was the only fit terminus
for the railroad. Well, that land, and that water-front, and the
terminus were HIS! And all from his own foresight and prudence.
It is needless to say that this was not the truth. But it is necessary
to point out that this fabrication was the result of his last night's
cogitations and his morning's experience. He had resolved upon a bold
course. He had reflected that his neighbors would be more ready to
believe in and to respect a hard, mercenary, and speculative foresight
in his taking advantage of 'Lige's necessities than if he had--as was
the case--merely benefited by them through an accident of circumstance
and good humor. In the latter case he would be envied and hated; in
the former he would be envied and feared. By logic of circumstance
the greater wrong seemed to be less obviously offensive than the minor
fault. It was true that it involved the doing of something he had not
contemplated, and the certainty of exposure if 'Lige ever returned,
but he was nevertheless resolved. The step from passive to active
wrong-doing is not only easy, it is often a relief; it is that return to
sincerity which we all require.
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