cording to the degree of criminal intent and
purpose displayed in each case.

No! The court could never convict this girl. It was not the object of
a trial to secure an addition to the number of criminals, but rather
to restore to society a good and useful member. It should be noted
that the accused had now the prospect of a new position where she
would be under the best possible supervision. Fru Lensmand Heyerdahl
had, from her intimate knowledge of the girl, and from her own
valuable experience as a mother, thrown wide the doors of her own home
to the girl; the court would bear in mind the weight of responsibility
attaching to its decision here, and would then convict or acquit the
accused. Finally, he wished to express his thanks to the learned
counsel for the prosecution, who had generously refrained from
demanding a conviction--a pleasing evidence of deep and humane
understanding.

The advocate for the defence sat down.

The remainder of the proceedings did not take long. The summing up was
but a repetition of the same points, as viewed from opposite sides, a
brief synopsis of the action of the play, dry, dull, and dignified. It
had all been managed very satisfactorily all round; both the advocates
had pointed out what the court should consider, and the presiding
justice found his task easy enough.

Lights were lit, a couple of lamps hanging from the ceiling--a
miserable light it was, the justice could hardly see to read his
notes. He mentioned with some severity the point that the child's
death had not been duly notified to the proper authorities--but that,
under the circumstances, should be considered rather the duty of the
father than of the mother, owing to her weakness at the time. The
court had then to determine whether any case had been proved with
regard to concealment of birth and infanticide. Here the evidence
was again recapitulated from beginning to end. Then came the usual
injunction as to being duly conscious of responsibility, which the
court had heard before, and finally, the not uncommon reminder that in
cases of doubt, the scale should be allowed to turn in favour of the
accused.

And now all was clear and ready.

The judges left the room and went into another apartment. They were to
consider a paper with certain questions, which one of them had with
him. They were away five minutes, and returned with a "No" to all the
questions.

No, the girl Barbro had not killed her child.

Then the