He had seen himself torn to atoms, until he would never have recognized any one of the dissected members as parts of the Honorable Judge he once thought himself to be.
He had heard his mother and her "ways" denounced as utterly repugnant to any person of decency, while James and John, under the head of "other vulgar appendages to the husband," had had a share in the general sifting down, and through it all he had kept quiet, with only an occasional demur or explanation; but when it came to Andy, the great, honest, true-hearted Andy, he could bear it no longer, and the Bigelow blood succumbed to the fiery gleam in Richard's eyes as he started to his feet, exclaiming: "Mrs.Van Buren, you must stop, for were you a hundred times a woman, I would not listen to one word of abuse against my brother Andy.

So long as it was myself and my mother, I did not mind; but every hair of Andy's head is sacred to us who know him, and I would take his part against the world, were it only for the sake of Ethie, who loved him so much, and whom he idolized.

He would die for Ethie this very night, if need be--aye, die for you too, perhaps, if you were suffering and his life could bring relief.

You don't know Andy, or you would know why we held him as dear as we do the memory of our darling Daisy; and when you taunt me with my half-witted brother, you hurt me as much as you would to tear my dead sister from her grave, and expose her dear face to the gaze of brutal men.

No, Mrs.Van Buren, say what you like of me, but never again sneer at my brother Andy." Richard paused, panting for breath, while Mrs.Van Buren looked at him with entirely new sensations from what she had before experienced.