out of the way, I thought pityingly of his sordid little theft. Stealing
because he was needy--a side of bacon and a length of cloth which he was
trying to sell in the forest! Theft has indeed ceased to be a matter of
great moment. This is because legal punishment for misdemeanors of all
kinds has also ceased to be of great moment. It is only a dull, human
punishment; the religious element has been removed from the law, and a
local magistrate is no longer a man of mystic power.

I well remember the last time I heard a judge explain the meaning of the
oath as it should be explained. It chilled us all to the bone to hear him.
We need some witchcraft again, and the Sixth Book of Moses, and the sin
against the Holy Ghost, and signing your name in the blood of a newly
baptized child! Steal a sack of money and silver treasure, if you like,
and hide the sack in the hills where on autumn evenings a blue flame will
hover over the spot. But don't come to me with three pairs of mittens and
a side of household bacon!

The man no longer worried about the sack; leaving it behind, he crawled
out of the hut to study the weather. The coffee and tobacco I had bought I
put back into the sack, for I did not need them. When he returned, he
said:

"I think after all I'd better stop the night here with you, if you don't
mind."

In the evening he gave no indication of being prepared to contribute any
of his own food. I cooked some coffee and gave him some dry bread to eat
with it.

"You shouldn't have expenses for me," he said.