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"If we let his case—fall—into—the—hands—of—the—law?" he repeated, very uncomfortably at sea.

"Shore! You know Buckin'ham Sharp'll git him out! You know that! That ain't no guesswork! When law comes in the door, jestice flies out the winder! Now, you look here, Abner," she wielded her finger again, "if us folks in Lane County don't use more jestice an' less law, this county ain't goin' to be fitten for decent, God-fearin' folks to live in! I'm not aginst the courts. I think they air fine in their places, but their place certainly ain't where they is a real crime and wickedness committed. 'Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord!' Well, how's the Lord goin' to git vengeance unless the children of the lord wake up an' do somethin'! God kain't come down out of Heaven, bust open that lock-up, an' hang Peck Bradley, but He can use the han's of the God-fearin' people of this town to serve His purpose! 'Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord!'"

The next moment she was off, past Abner, down the street on her way to the next person she met, even more wrought up than when Abner first encountered her.

The teamster felt as if he had received an electric shock. For the first time, Tug Beavers's shattered side called to Abner for vengeance. Like all his fellow villagers, the young man had fallen into a foggy notion that because it was customary to inflict merely the annoyance of capture and trial on a homicide, that custom necessarily was right. But Mrs. Biggers had been nursing Tug steadily since she had removed him from the hotel. SHe had fallen into a maternal attitude toward the wounded man, and now with ruthless feminine logic, she appraised the law for exactly what it was worth. And she had a woman's ability to burn her point of view into others.

Abner felt that he must do something. He moved along aimlessly, his wrath slowly kindling against Peck Bradley. Added to what Mrs. Biggers had said, there revisited Abner's thoughts the fact that Tug had whipped Peck once in a fair fight. And after all that, Peck had waylaid Tug and shot