he bent down, raising the
druggist's heavy form to his own back in a fireman's carry, then turning
to retrace his steps.

Mayor Hilliard let the gun sag in his hands. At the fence Dr. Aylesworth
paused. "Separate those wires," he ordered those standing near.

They hastily obeyed, pressing their feet on the lower wire, raising the
center one. "Take him!" the minister commanded. He rolled the figure of
Sam Baker gently through the opening and crawled through himself.
"Bring him to my house," he said. Without a glance at the Mayor, he
strode off through the parted crowd and disappeared.

One by one, the onlookers followed, slowly, never glancing at the
immobile figure of the Mayor. Hilliard watched the last of them fade
into the snow curtain, and he stood there alone, still holding the gun
in his hand.

The guard came up at last. "Do you want me to keep on here, Mr.
Hilliard?"

* * * * *

"I still say it was the only thing to do," said Mrs. Maddox at the
dinner table. "How could anyone claim to be human and think of leaving
poor Mr. Baker lying there in the snow?"

"It was the only thing Dr. Aylesworth could do," said Professor Maddox.
"Mayor Hilliard did the only thing _he_ could do. Which was right, and
which was wrong--I don't think any of us are really sure any more."

"What do you suppose may come of this?" asked Professor Larsen.

"I don't know," Ken's father admitted. "There's a lot of excitement in
town. A fellow named Meggs is stirring up talk against Hilliard. He's
the storekeeper who tried to hold a profiteering sale, you remember."

"I heard there were some fights in town after church," said Maria.

Ken nodded. "Yes, I heard about them, too."

"It mustn't start here!" exclaimed Mrs. Larsen. "That must be the way it
began in Chicago and Berkeley. We can't let it happen here!"

* * * * *

During the next few days a kind of unspoken truce seemed to reign over
the town. It was rumored that both Mayor Hilliard and Dr. Aylesworth
were waiting for the other to come for a talk, but that neither was
willing to go first under the circumstances. Orders had been given that
Sam Baker was to get no special ration. He would get only what others
shared with him out of their own meager allotment.

In the laboratory on College Hill it was confirmed that Professor Maddox
had indeed discovered a completely effective means of cleansing metals
of the des