Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1867-05-17
From the Atlantic Monthly for May.l
The Plaintiff NOnsuited.
BY j. o. CULVER.

BY J. o. CULVER.
This was the tenth and last day of q
criminal case i was reporting. There
had been a comfortable crowd each morn
ing,-one Just OVERLOOKING the benches, and
rippling about the doorway; but this los
ing scene had drawn and packed two
crowds into one,-a dense mass, anxious
and silent. waiting for the jury to bring in
their verdict 1t was very uncomfortable,
even TO those inside the bar.
a. We shall have to stay here ten hours
yet" said one of the lawyers. Suppose
we adjourn to the judges room, with the
reporters, and have some refreshments and
a story" So we all rose much to the sur
prise of the spectators, whose anxious eyes
followed us, and walked out of the sitting
atmosphere into the library, where we made
ourselves comfortable in the spacious
chairs and sofas.
Il call on the counsel who closed for the
Defence" said the first speaker, "for a
story" Thus appealed to, the gentleman,
an intellectual, keen-eyed man, with a
kindly expression on his thoughtful face,
dallied with pencil on the table moment
and said, smiling Gentlemen, how can
you hope for or expect good story from
me, when you know am neither woman
nor a free thinker However, my wife is
a woman, fortunately, and will admit, in
strict professional confidence, that she is
pretty free in expressing her thoughts on
all subjects so perhaps you may see fit to
waive these primary objections, and listen
To me-" Here he looked at my pencil rae
ing over the paper, and hesitated mo-
ment; then sighed, like one submitting
To inevitable destiny, and launched out as
follows
Ii is unnecessary, perhaps, for ME to
tell any of my legal brothers here, that the
summer in Nassau street is hot but i ms y
be allowed to say, in passing, that it was
very hot in my office in Nassau street on
one particular August afternoon, q dozen
years since. In fact, was sitting very I'M
professionally in my shirt-sleeves, when
Mr.. LOckshaw-firm of Phillips and Lock
shaw-came into the Office, rather red, and
much excited
"'Mr. Riley said he, you must go to
Wisconsin tonight
"'Tonight, Do you think am a car
rier pigeon, Mr.. Lockshaw? II will take
thirty hours at least, with the best possible
appliances of our fleet friend, the steam
horse
"'We have he continued. not needing
my remarks, fifteen Thousand dollars due
us there from Wells & Co, and we learn
from private advices that they are going TO
sell out and run away to California. Now
what can We do except attach their prop
erty 2
40 Nothing replied, and you win be
very fortunate If you do that before they
assign
His finger trembled at this suggestion,
as he moved it slowly over the map; and,
stopping suddenly, he said: Here it is, on
the Fox river, about a days drive back
from Lake Michigan. There is no town
marked on the map, but you can't miss it.
We will give you thousand dollars extra,
beside your expenses and regular fee'
We'll, Mr.. Lockshaw, suppose there
is no use in refusing, so get your notes
ready, and I'll leave on the next train
He had not been gone ten minutes
when up came Mr. Wolfe, an old friend
and client and, what was more important
to me, the father of Fanny Wolfe, who,
according to mutual agreement, was to
become Mrs. Riley two months from that
date.
"'Well, Riley, Tn glad to find you in, ,
said he, with something of the patronizing
air of a prospective father-in-lav, you
must go to Wisconsin for me-
Wisconsin! What is the matter there,
sir?'
"a good DEAL said he; fifteen thou
sand dollars at least, and hanging by sin
gle thread, too 80 - E~-si
as Fifteen thousand dollars Why, you
surprise me; though / know there is
great deal of money hanging by single
threads all over the country. What shape
is it in.' said l. who owes it to youg
"'Wells & Co. he replied why, what
Is the matter, Riley? Are they friends of
yours?
"You will excuse me, gentlemen, for
having been so unprofessional, on this oc-
casion, as to allow my face to betray my
feelings" said Riley to us, "but recovered
Immediately. and replied to Wolfe that they
were not my friends, and asked him where
Wells & Co. lived
About a days drive back from Lake
Michigan, on the Fox rIver, said he, and
you must attach their goods. They have q
Jorge stock, I'm told-some forty thousand
dollars WORTH --.-----
al am very sorry, Mr.. Wolfe, that it 80
happens said i, greatly perplexed at the
unpleasant positionI was in, 'but cannot
go for YOU
go You must said he, positively !; 9 I de-
pend on it. You are not going somewhere
else, are yous'
"'No, not exactly said /, anxiously, for
ne was not man TO be trified with, and /
felt uneasy when l thought of Fanny.
But I'm going to be busy-very busy-fn
fact entirely absorbed in a case for another
client
40 Who Is it p said he. You must put
him off. This is too important and must
be attended to. Twill give you twenty five
hundred dollars and your expenses, II you
will CO. --~, - =
but I cannot attend to it, assure you,
unless my other clients release me. will
send them note, and they can decide
while am getting ready to co.
So / wrote note to Phillips and Lock
shaw, stating the case, and urging them to
unite with Mr. Wolfe, and let me collect on
account of both claims, as Mr.. Wolfe said
he understood there was forty thousand
dollars worth of goods In Wells s. Co.'S
store.
When L had finished writing, the er-
rand boy was gone Here was dilemma,
Tor had no time to see my clients in per-
son, and Mr. Wolfe was pacing the room
much excited. He had long been INV
client, and had made thousand dollars
from his business where had hundred
dollars from Phillips and Lockshaw; be-
SIDES L was to be one of his family in two
months; but had been retained by the
other parties, and professional hon.
or, OF course, demanded my utmost ex-