The Incredulity of Father Brown
reporter. "Why, of course he got out of that chasm; for there he is."
The priest did not answer the question but asked abruptly:
"What do you think of Horne?"
"Well, one can't call him a criminal exactly," answered Byrne. "He never was at all like any criminal I ever knew, and I've had some experience; and, of course, Nares has had much more. I don't think we ever quite believed him a criminal."
"And I never believed in him in another capacity," said the priest quietly. "You may know more about criminals. But there's one class of people I probably do know more about than you do, or even Nares for that matter. I've known quite a lot of them, and I know their little ways."
"Another class of people," repeated Byrne, mystified." Why, what class do you know about?"
"Penitents," said Father Brown.
"I don't quite understand," objected Byrne. "Do you mean you don't believe in his crime?"
"I don't believe in his confession," said Father Brown. "I've heard a good many confessions, and there was never a genuine one like that. It was romantic; it was all out of books. Look how he talked about having the brand of Cain. That's out of books. It's not what anyone would feel who had in his own person done a thing hitherto horrible to him. Suppose you were an honest clerk or
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