There is nothing so terrible as perjury. There is something uncanny and awful about that sin. There is no mercy or condonation for it. The gates of the infernal regions open of their own accord when the perjurer's name is mentioned. If she had then raised her eyes to his face, she would have been afraid of seeing it stamped with damnation's mark, branded by the wrath of God. As she stands there and works herself into greater and greater terror, the Judge instructs the defendant as to how he must place his fingers on the Bible. Then the Judge opens the law book to find the form of the oath. As she sees him place his fingers on the book, she comes a step nearer, and it appears as though she wished to reach across the table and push his hand away. But as yet she is restrained by a faint hope. She thinks he will relent now--at the last moment. The Judge has found the place in the law book, and now he begins to administer the oath loudly and distinctly. Then he makes a pause for the defendant to repeat his words. The defendant actually starts to repeat, but he stumbles over the words, and the Judge must begin again from the beginning. Now she can no longer entertain a trace of hope. She knows now that he means to swear falsely--that he means to bring down upon himself the wrath of God, both for this life and for the life to come. She stands wringing her hands in her helplessness. And it is all her fault because she has accused him! But she was without work; she was starving and freezing; the child came near dying. To whom else should she turn for help? Never had she thought that he would be willing to commit such an execrable sin. The Judge has again administered the oath. In a few seconds the thing will have been done: the kind of thing from which there is no turning back--which can never be retrieved, never blotted out. Just as the defendant begins to repeat the oath, she rushes forward, sweeps away his outstretched hand, and seizes the Bible. It is her terrible dread which has finally given her courage. He must not swear away his soul; he must not! The court officer hastens forward instantly to take the Bible from her and to bring her to order. She has a boundless fear of all that pertains to a Court of Justice and actually believes that what she has just done will bring her to prison; but she does not let go her hold on the Bible. Cost what it may, he cannot take the oath. He who would swear also runs up to take the Bible, but she resists him too. "You shall not take the oath!" she cries, "you shall not!" That which is happening naturally awakens the greatest surprise. The court attendants elbow their way up to the bar, the jurymen start to rise, the recording clerk jumps up with the ink bottle in his hand to prevent its being upset. Then the Judge shouts in a loud and angry tone, "Silence!" and everybody stands perfectly still.