and the women in the house behind the cedars, who,
while superior in blood and breeding to the people
of the neighborhood in which they lived, were yet
under the shadow of some cloud which clearly shut
them out from the better society of the town. Almost
any resident could have given one or more of
these reasons, of which any one would have been
sufficient to most of them; and to some of them
Warwick's mere presence in the town would have
seemed a bold and daring thing.



III

THE OLD JUDGE


On the morning following the visit to his
mother, Warwick visited the old judge's office.
The judge was not in, but the door stood open,
and Warwick entered to await his return. There
had been fewer changes in the office, where he had
spent many, many hours, than in the town itself.
The dust was a little thicker, the papers in the
pigeon-holes of the walnut desk were a little
yellower, the cobwebs in the corners a little more
aggressive. The flies droned as drowsily and the
murmur of the brook below was just as audible.
Warwick stood at the rear window and looked out