“What do you mean by stopping this lady?” he shouts, at the same time grabbing the poor creature by the throat.  “Back to your house and take out your goods, or I’ll burn them on the road.”

“Take your hands off that woman,” cries Harvey.  He stands in his saddle and waves his hand menacingly at the sheriff.

“Stop choking her!  Do you hear!”

With savage energy Marlin hurls the widow to the ground.

“Do not be frightened, Miss Purdy,” he says, in obsequious tone.  “This woman will not annoy you again.”  “You must excuse me, Mr. Trueman,” he adds, turning to Harvey.  “But these mining folk cannot be handled like ordinary people.”

The blush of shame has passed from Harvey’s face; he is ashen.

“Are you evicting this woman for non-payment of rent?” he asks.

“She has not paid a cent since her husband’s death, ten months ago.  I received orders from the company to turn her out to-day.  She has been making trouble here for the past month, and now that she has lost her suit it’s time she got out.”

“Mamma, mamma,” cries the five year old boy, as he runs to his mother, laying prostrate in the weeds at the side of the road.

“Are you hurt, mamma, tell me?” and then he bursts into a flood of tears.

“Take that brat away,” Sheriff Marlin says under his breath to a man.  As the deputy starts to pick up the child, it utters a piercing shriek.

“Don’t let them hurt the child!” cries Ethel, in utter horror.  She has till now been a mute witness to the heartless acts of the agents of the law.

Harvey jumps from his saddle, and is at the deputy’s side.

“Put that child down.  I shall see that it is taken care of,” he declares.

“Excuse me, Mr. Trueman,” interposes Sheriff Marlin, “you must not interfere with us in the execution of our duty.”

“Execution of your duty!  You mean the execution of a woman and her child.  I shall not stand by and see the law violated.  You have authority to evict the widow for her debts; but you have no authority to assault her.

“How much does she owe?”

“Eighty dollars,” is the surly reply.

“Here is the money,” says Harvey, as he takes a roll of bills from his pocket.

“I cannot accept the money now,” protests the sheriff.

Then stepping up to Harvey he says in an undertone: 

“Mr. Trueman, the fact is, I have been told to put this woman out of town; she will cause trouble if she remains.  The miners are all in sympathy with her because she lost the suit.”

“Who gave you such orders?”

“Mr. Purdy.”

“When?”

“This afternoon.  I saw him just after you left the office.  He told me to get the widow out of town this very day, so I took the switch engine and came out here.”

“Well, you will let the matter stand as it is.  I intend to pay the rent for the woman and see that she is placed back in the house.”