It had been the suppressed cry of Joe
Ellison when he had learned the truth--the difference between his
dreams and the reality. He could not imagine what that moment had been
to Joe: the swift, unbelievable knowledge that had seemed to be
tearing his very being apart.
Larry had an impulse to step out to Joe's side. But just as a little
earlier he had felt the scene had belonged to Maggie, he now felt that
this situation, the greatest in Joe's life, belonged definitely to
Joe, was almost sacredly Joe's own property. Also he felt that he was
about to learn many things which had puzzled him. Therefore he held
himself back, at the same time keeping his hold upon Red Hannigan.
During this moment of silence, while Larry was wondering what was
going to happen, his eyes also took in the figure of Maggie, all her
powers of action and expression still paralyzed by appalling
consternation. He understood, at least to a degree, what she was going
through. He knew this much of her plan: that she had intended to cut
loose in some way from Barney and Old Jimmie, and that she had
intended that her father should continue to cherish the dream that had
been his happiness for so long. And now her father had come upon her
in the company of Barney and Old Jimmie and in a situation whose every
superficial circumstance was such as to make him believe the worst of
her!
Joe turned on the smartly dressed Barney.
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