There are several miners in the group who had been at the court house. They look at Harvey with glances which speak the thoughts they dare not utter. Then, as a hunted fawn which will seek shelter of the huntsmen who are to slay her, the widow rushes from the house. She runs to the head of Ethel's horse and falls prostrate at the animal's feet. "In mercy's name, don't let them put me out to freeze," she wails. "It is not for myself. I don't mind the cold; but little Eric, he will freeze to death. "You give your horses shelter; will you let a child die on the roadside? It is not my fault that the rent is not paid. My husband never owed a cent in his life. He was killed in the mines, and the company will give me nothing--nothing. I won't ask for charity. All I ask for is a chance to work. I can break coal. I can dig it. I am willing to work even in the Jumbo, till it kills me. Anything to get food and a roof for my child." This tragic scene is enacted, before Sheriff Marlin and his deputies grasp the situation. They do not long stand idly by and see the daughter of the great Purdy subjected to this annoyance. With a bound the sheriff, himself, is upon the woman. "What do you mean by stopping this lady?" he shouts, at the same time grabbing the poor creature by the throat. "Back to your house and take out your goods, or I'll burn them on the road." "Take your hands off that woman," cries Harvey. He stands in his saddle and waves his hand menacingly at the sheriff. "Stop choking her! Do you hear!" With savage energy Marlin hurls the widow to the ground. "Do not be frightened, Miss Purdy," he says, in obsequious tone. "This woman will not annoy you again." "You must excuse me, Mr. Trueman," he adds, turning to Harvey. "But these mining folk cannot be handled like ordinary people." The blush of shame has passed from Harvey's face; he is ashen. "Are you evicting this woman for non-payment of rent?" he asks. "She has not paid a cent since her husband's death, ten months ago. I received orders from the company to turn her out to-day. She has been making trouble here for the past month, and now that she has lost her suit it's time she got out." "Mamma, mamma," cries the five year old boy, as he runs to his mother, laying prostrate in the weeds at the side of the road. "Are you hurt, mamma, tell me?" and then he bursts into a flood of tears. "Take that brat away," Sheriff Marlin says under his breath to a man. As the deputy starts to pick up the child, it utters a piercing shriek. "Don't let them hurt the child!" cries Ethel, in utter horror. She has till now been a mute witness to the heartless acts of the agents of the law. Harvey jumps from his saddle, and is at the deputy's side. "Put that child down. I shall see that it is taken care of," he declares. "Excuse me, Mr. Trueman," interposes Sheriff Marlin, "you must not interfere with us in the execution of our duty."