DE W. It was noble—it was glorious. While I looked upon that poor man in the dock, and I heard you enunciate his virtues and expatiate on the largeness of his small family, he assumed in my eyes the sanctity of a martyr.
WHITE. You don’t say so?
DE W. Perhaps you noticed that among the persons in the court one wept aloud—very loud?
WHITE. I did. The policeman turned him out, I believe.
DE W. True—ahem! Some such brutal occurrence did take place; I was the man that wept, sir, you were the man that made me weep; you touched my heart, sir, you touched my heart.
WHITE. (aside) Really, a most sensible old gentleman!
DE W. Lingering at the door, I learned that the prisoner was acquitted. So I walked home, and I said to myself—Whitewash is my destined son-in-law. I as a manufacturer of fancy soap remove physical impurities from the skin; Whitewash effaces the blots that calumny has cast upon innocence.
WHITE. Innocence!
DE W. Of course; no one knows better than you that that poor persecuted being was innocence itself.
WHITE. (coolly) Oh, yes—yes.