Norton nodded good-naturedly as he passed, and
Carrington, glancing back, saw that he turned in at Belle Plain.
He shrugged his shoulders, and went on his way not rejoicing.
CHAPTER XV
THE SHOOTING-MATCH AT BOGGS'
The judge's faith in the reasonableness of mankind having
received a staggering blow, there began a somewhat furtive
existence for himself, for Solomon Mahaffy, and for the boy.
They kept to little frequented byways, and usually it was the
early hours of morning, or the cool of late afternoons when they
took the road.
The heat of silent middays found them lounging beside shady
pools, where the ripple of fretted waters filled the pauses in
their talk. It was then that the judge and Mahaffy exchanged
views on literature and politics, on religion and politics, on
the public debt and politics, on canals and national roads and
more politics. They could and did honestly differ at great
length and with unflagging energy on these vital topics,
especially politics, for they were as far apart mentally as they
were close together morally.
Mahaffy, morose and embittered, regarded the life they were
living as an unmixed hardship. The judge entered upon it with
infinite zest. He displayed astonishing adaptability, while he
brought all the resources of a calm and modest knowledge to bear
on the vexed problem of procuring sustenance for himself and for
his two companions.
"To an old campaigner like me, nothing could be more delightful
than this holiday, coming as it does on the heels of grinding
professional activity," he observed to Mahaffy.
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