wrong, and
wrong with right. When a man does evil in order that good may come, one
tries to find an excuse for him, tries to palliate his offense in any
reasonable way. That is human instinct. That is what accounts for the
petition there, with the signatures of many of the most conscientious
men in Alleghenia attached. They have managed to find the excuse, or
they think they have, which, so far as their personal convictions are
concerned, amounts to about the same thing. And I've been saying to
myself that when public opinion points out a course as justifiable it
can hardly be possible for a single individual to say that it is not.
And yet the wrong is there, isn't it? No matter how confused a question
may seem to us, there must absolutely, when we come to think of it, be
some one great elemental principle upon which it not only can, but must,
be decided--some boundary line between justice and injustice which we
may be too blind to see, but which exists, and calls for observance,
none the less. Right is right, wrong is wrong. No confusion between the
two can possibly exist except in appearance. Strive to elude truth as we
will, it remains eternal truth, and cannot be evaded in the end. And
where it seems to be beyond us, all we can do is to strive to find the
silken thread which will surely lead us out of the labyrinth into the
searching light of day. It is that clue which I have been groping for.
What is it? How am I to know it when I see it? What am I to do? At first
I thought the case was clear--what he said, you know--about Diogenes--it
seemed so odd--every one thought so--it might be construed as--as
insanity"--

"Oh, _no_, John! Why, _we_ know what that meant! No--no! The best part
of it all was his sanity, his wonderful courage, his braving of almost
certain death for what he believed--and knew, John--_knew_ to be right
and best. Think what he did for Alleghenia, Johnny boy. He has been
almost as great an instrument in her salvation as you. Think what he has
done for all of us--for you, in giving you this opportunity--for me--for
Dad! John, how _can_ you hesitate?"

The Governor shook his head.

"Dearest," he said, "you're on the wrong track, just as I have been, a
dozen times since the petition came. Don't you suppose I've thought of
all that? Its significance, not only to me, but, as you say, to the
state, is so tremendous that, at the first glance, it seems to be an
unanswerable argument. But--don't you se