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Itmayseemsevere——Ithinkthatitwassevere。ThateveningwhenMr。Taylorcamehometohisfamily，Georgereceivedathrashingfordisobedience。
“AndIsuppose，“saidMrs。Taylortoherhusband，“thatshecameoutjustintimetostop’embreakingBobCarmody’sneckforhim。“
UponthedayfollowingMrs。Tayloressayedtheimpossible。ShetookherselfovertoMollyWood’scabin。Thegirlgaveheralistlessgreeting，andthedamesatslowlydown，andsurveyedthecomfortableroom。
“Averynicehome，deary，“saidshe，“ifitwasahome。Butyou’llfixsomethinglikethisinyourrealhome，Ihavenodoubt。“
Mollymadenoanswer。
“Whatwe’regoingtodowithoutyouIcan’tsee，“saidMrs。
Taylor。“ButI’dnothaveitdifferentforworlds。He’llbecomingbacksoon，Iexpect。“
“Mrs。Taylor，“saidMolly，allatonce，“pleasedon’tsayanythingnow。Ican’tstandit。“Andshebrokeintowretchedtears。
“Why，deary，he——“
“No；notaword。Please，please——I’llgooutifyoudo。“
Theolderwomanwenttotheyoungerone，andthenputherarmsroundher。Butwhenthetearswereover，theyhadnotdoneanygood；itwasnotthestormthatclearsthesky——allstormsdonotclearthesky。AndMrs。Taylorlookedatthepalegirlandsawthatshecoulddonothingtohelphertowardpeaceofmind。
“Ofcourse，“shesaidtoherhusband，afterreturningfromherprofitlesserrand，“youmightknowshe’dfeeldreadful。
“Whatabout？“saidTaylor。
“Why，youknowjustaswellasIdo。AndI’llsayformyself，I
hopeyou’llneverhavetohelphangfolks。“
“Well，“saidTaylor，mildly，“ifIhadto，I’dhaveto，Iguess。“
“Well，Idon’twantittocome。Butthatpoorgirliseatingherheartrightoutoverit。“
“Whatdoesshesay？“
“It’swhatshedon’tsay。She’llnottalk，andshe’llnotletmetalk，andshesitsandsits。“
“I’llgotalksometoher，“saidtheman。
“Well，Taylor，Ithoughtyouhadmoresense。You’dnotgetawordin。She’llbesicksoonifherworryain’tstoppedsomeway，though。“
“Whatdoesshewantthiscountrytodo？“inquiredTaylor。“DoessheexpectittobelikeVermontwhenit——“
“Wecan’thelpwhatsheexpects，“hiswifeinterrupted。“ButI
wishwecouldhelpHER。“
Theycouldnot，however；andhelpcamefromanothersource。JudgeHenryrodebythenextday。TohimgoodMrs。Tayloratonceconfidedheranxiety。TheJudgelookedgrave。
“MustImeddle？“hesaid。
“Yes，Judge，youmust，“saidMrs。Taylor。
“Butwhycan’tIsendhimoverherewhenhegetsback？Thenthey’lljustsettleitbetweenthemselves。“
Mrs。Taylorshookherhead。“Thatwouldunsettleitworsethanitis，“sheassuredhim。“Theymustn’tmeetjustnow。“
TheJudgesighed。“Well，“hesaid，“verywellI’llsacrificemycharacter，sinceyouinsist。“
JudgeHenrysatthinking，waitinguntilschoolshouldbeout。Hedidnotatallrelishwhatlaybeforehim。Hewouldliketohavegotoutofit。Hehadbeenafederaljudge；hehadbeenanuprightjudge；hehadmettheresponsibilitiesofhisdifficultofficenotonlywithlearning，whichisdesirable，butalsowithcourageandcommonsensebesides，andtheseareessential。Hehadbeenastanchservantofthelaw。Andnowhewasinvitedtodefendthatwhich，atfirstsight，nay，evenatsecondandthirdsight，mustalwaysseemadefianceofthe1a\\vmoreinjuriousthancrimeitself。Everygoodmaninthisworldhasconvictionsaboutrightandwrong。Theyarehissoul’sriches，hisspiritualgold。Whenhisconductisatvariancewiththese，heknowsthatitisadeparture，afalling；andthisisasimpleandclearmatter。Iffallingwereallthateverhappenedtoagoodman，allhisdayswouldbeasimplematterof’strivingandrepentance。
Butitisnotall。Therecometohimcertainjunctures，crises，whenlife，likeahighwayman，springsuponhim，demandingthathestandanddeliverhisconvictionsinthenameofsomerighteouscause，biddinghimdoevilthatgoodmaycome。IcannotsaythatIbelieveindoingevilthatgoodmaycome。Idonot。Ithinkthatanymanwhohonestlyjustifiessuchcou
