I'm on
the other side. That's between us, then? An abstraction!"
"I don't think so. There are _three_ walls between us. The first
you put up when you first met me. The second is what you call your
traditions, your belief in wasting human life. The third--it's
this thing of which you must not speak. Why should I ponder as to
that last wall, when two others, insurmountable, lie between?"
"Visionary, subjective!"
"Then let us be concrete if you like. Take the case of the girl
Lily. She was the actual cause of your getting hurt, of many men
being killed. Why?"
"Because she was a runaway slave. The law has to be enforced,
property must be protected, even if it costs life sometimes.
There'd be no government otherwise. We men have to take our
chances in a time like that. The duty is plain."
"How utterly you fail of the truth! That's not why there was blood
spilled over her. Do you know who she is?"
"No," he said.
"She is the daughter of your _friend_, Judge Clayton, of the bench
of justice in your commonwealth.
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