r too much credit, Son," he
said in a tired voice.

Chapter 13. _Stay Out of Town!_

It took a surprisingly short time to ring Mayfield with a barbed-wire
barricade. A large stock of steel fence posts was on hand in the local
farm supply stores, and these could be driven rapidly even in the frozen
ground. There was plenty of wire. What more was needed, both of wire and
posts, was taken from adjacent farmland fences, and by the end of the
week following the Mayor's pronouncement the task was completed and the
guards were at their posts.

In all that time there had been no occasion to turn anyone away, but
sentiment both for and against the program was heavy and bitter within
the community.

On the Sunday after completion of the fence, Dr. Aylesworth chose to
speak of it in his sermon. He had advertised that he would do so. The
church was not only packed, but large numbers of people stood outside in
the freezing weather listening through the doors. Even greater
excitement was stirred by the whispered information that Mayor Hilliard
was sitting in the center of the congregation.

The minister had titled his sermon, "My Brother's Keeper." He opened by
saying, "Am I my brother's keeper? We know the answer to that question,
my friends. For all the thousands of years that man has been struggling
upward he has been developing the answer to that question. We know it,
even though we may not always abide by it.

"We know who our brothers are--all mankind, whether in Asia or in Europe
or next door to our own home. These are our brothers."

As he elaborated on the theme, Ken thought that this was his mother's
belief which she had expressed when the fence was first mentioned.

"We cannot help those in distant lands," said Dr. Aylesworth. "As much
as our hearts go out to them and are touched with compassion at their
plight, we can do nothing for them. For those on our own doorstep,
however, it is a different matter.

"We are being told now by our civil authorities in this community that
we must drive away at the point of a gun any who come holding out their
hands for succor and shelter. We are told we must drive them away to
certain death.

"I tell you if we do this thing, no matter what the outcome of our
present condition, we shall never be able to look one another in the
eye. We shall never be able to look at our own image without remembering
those whom we turned away when they came to us for help. I call upon y