a wide wooden post, with three
round holes in it, through which appeared a man's head and his two
hands. Thus imprisoned and utterly unable to protect himself in any way,
he furnished sport for a thoughtless, cruel mob, who were aiming at him
with rotten eggs, cabbage-stalks, and any rubbish that came to hand.

Mrs. Hodge's blood boiled with indignation as she saw the terror and
agony in the poor man's eyes, as missile after missile hit him, each hit
being greeted with a shout of delight from the populace.

'Shame on you!' cried the honest woman, and hastily leaving her basket
at a shop-door, she somehow pushed her way through the masses, and
climbing the platform, stood right in front of the pillory. 'Shame on
you all, to hit a helpless man!' she cried again.

'Get down! get down!' shouted the mob, furious at any one interfering
with their fun. 'Get down, or we will treat you the same!'

'More shame to you,' said the dauntless woman. 'I shall not leave for
all your threats! Surely there will be one amongst you all who will not
see a helpless man tortured.'

'But he is a bad man. He was trying to set folk against the Government.
He deserves to be punished!' was shouted by different voices in the
crowd.

'If he has done wrong he is being punished for it,' said the woman
firmly, still continuing to shelter the man by standing before him. 'It
is bad enough for him to stand all day in the pillory under this
broiling sun, without having his eyes blinded and his nose broken. We
shall all, maybe, want a friend one day, so let us help this poor fellow
now. Here, Ralph,' she continued, catching the eye of the chief leader
of the rioting, 'you said, when I saved you from bleeding to death in
the hay-field last summer, that you owed me a good turn. Pay it me now!
Leave this poor fellow alone, and get your friends to do the same.'

The man stood irresolute one minute; then his feeling of gratitude
conquered him, and he said, half-sheepishly, 'Have your own way, Mother!
I will see that no one throws any more at him.'

'That is right, Ralph,' said Mrs. Hodge, heartily, for she knew that
Ralph's influence was great. 'Now for a pail of fresh water, and let me
see if I cannot get all this dirt off this poor fellow's face and hair.'

'Thank you, Missis, you have been real good to me,' the man said,
hoarsely. 'I could never have stood it much longer.'

The mob--fickle as mobs so often are--were now as ready to help as
before t