"I think you are right, and that we will come to it in time. Indeed, I think my father is of the same opinion, though he has no power to change it. Listen to this case; the defendant has plead guilty."
"Mr. Prosecutor," said the judge, "let me have the indictment. John Farrin, stand up. You have plead guilty to as dastardly and cowardly a crime as I have ever known. You have disfigured your wife for life and, possibly, crippled her as well. You have cut off both her ears and one of her toes. I greatly regret that the law is such I cannot inflict adequate punishment upon you. I wish I could send you to prison for ten years. As it is, I will give you the limit. The sentence of the Court is, that you undergo a year's imprisonment, and then to find security for good behavior. Adjourn the Court until two o'clock."
Meanwhile, in the garden of the Governor's residence, Martha Stirling was entertaining visitors. Jane Falconer and Edith Tyler were her particular friends, and they had come over, from their homes on Prince George Street, to discuss the aftermath of the ball, on the previous night.
"Martha," said Miss Falconer, "I do not wonder that Captain Herford was jealous. The way you carried on with Sir Edward Parkington was really scandalous."
"And what was yours, my dear?"
"Mine?"
"Yes, yours," said Miss Stirling; "as I remember, you and Edith were with him just as much as I—or, perhaps, a little less."
Miss Tyler laughed. "A little less!" she said. "He danced with me but once. How many times did he favor you?"
"Oh, two or three."