The family listened as Joe told his story.

"He wept?"

"Yes, he wept." Joe's tone was terse and his face was set and pained.

"What else did he say?" Hoss asked.

"I've told you everything."

"Strange," Ben murmured, shaking his head. "So strange."

"Well, he's a strange boy, alright. There's one thing that's sure, though."

"What's that?"

"That business...the starving...it was partly against us, that's true, but it was mostly against himself. He wanted to die. I'm sure of it."

"I will never understand," said Hoss. "All this because of a walloping. I think - "

"Like Paul said. That was the catalyst, that's all."

"I refuse to feel guilty for it!" Ben snapped.

"No, don't feel guilty for it," said Joe. "In a funny way I think you've done him a favor. He might've gone on for years like this. It's finally coming out. All that poison inside him. It's like lancing a wound. His mind...well, I'm not a doc, I don't understand. But I understand misery when I see it."