CHAPTER 20But I was beyond thinking of Eliphalet Greer. The sins that bowed his head meant nothing; I had no curiosity for any emotion which shook him, now that he was gone, now that I felt the damp night air through the open door. My own thoughts were all about me. I was alone again with that part of myself which sits in judgment, alone as we always are whether we are in the city street or on the sea. Nothing beyond myself had any meaning, except the thing I had almost done.
It was strange how it had changed now that it lay behind me. Its wickedness was still growing within me. It was taking root in my being. It was filling me with such a sickness that it seemed like an act accomplished. I must have looked as wild and as strange as Eliphalet Greer. I saw that Jim Lowes was startled, and
