Litchfield enquirer., 1872-08-22

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 fodrth;; and when that, too, had \ Iassed into.va its successor made an lAnlelliate appearance and ! E puffed on I ths gravity Of a Grand N Niziex.si4 sf.f E Tiin seventh efga and my train began to- cafTy fire. I was in the midst of "a graphic narrative, and really quite obliviil { ous of all my actual surroundings, when I heard a sort3df suppressed cough by my shoulder. and looking mp there stood kfaut, as ugly as ever, but with .premo- nltions of defeat settling oyer his fat face. fooled at him as though he were so much plank space or chair-back; and the shadov of coming submissions fell still deeper over his features. .s "Mdnherr,,s.s said he, at last, Chow many cigars have you got init you?" s- L. About three dozen," sad-I, Knocking I5off the ashes of Mo- ' with nay little fin ger, ai 1 drew it from my lips to commu- nieatet this item of statistics. --- l& ssAnd-yeu stay ont here till you kmoke them aIl?,' asked Kraut; his fears aiding his English, -+- f Certainly, said I, and gave a long and strofg puff, corroborative of the as- ! sertion, md resumed my devotion to nay r < Kraut fell back. He fired one or two 1 guns in he way of Dutch oaths and ex- pletives, but it was evident he was in full retreat. There was presently a renewed buzzingof voices; and by-and- by a bust ling ittIe Hishman, who had been mani- festing great anxiety on the subject of supper, game to me, with triumph beam- ing in both eyes, and the intelligence that F ssMisth1r Kraut was agreeable, and thatI was just wanted to sign the saaled yer. The sealed verdict was signed We had Teen out just three hours; and as the officer unlocked door and restored us to fieedom, his face wore an expression of mingled satisfaction and surprise. It MS dusk; and though he looked hard at |eountenance too, and nothing betrayed Aim as having been smoked into that yer dict!
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 From that night Kraut evidently regard sd me with respect, and, had we chanced 10 sit every day on the same cause, would doubtless have exhibited more discretion than valor in opposing my opinions. But we were not brought together again until e the last day of the Term. On that day a cause was called, inwhich one of our lead ing lnsurance Companies was defendant The plaintiff was retail dealer somewhere In the Bdwery or Chatham Street, and had been burned out with total loss of all his stock, books, and fixtures. The fire had made clean sweep. He had policy of insurance for some two or three thou sand dollars, and he claimed to recover the whole amount. Kraut and once more took the old seats-this time with very friendly greetings. He looked tpon me as twice his conqneror4-once by strat- agem and once by blockade his sal utatlon was very deferential. felt that I could afford to be civil, and that I might make him useful ally, in case of a dead lock in the jury on the impending trial. The case proceeded, and the plaintiff dis closed a very plain state of facts. Thefe had been fire, and he had lost every thing. and proved his loss to penny. His principal witness was his mother, who had been the woman of all work of the con- cern, and who was as indefatigable at ssffffff6sBfng or sweeping. The company made faint attempt to prove some fraud i'll the matter, but their counsel made small progress, and gained no sympathy with the court or jury. ssf-F,.:i
 Just as the testimony was closing. the plaintiff lawyer recalled the mother to the wituess:stand, for the purpose of clinching some loose item of evidence. She made the desired explanation, and was just quitting the stand, when Kraut, who! had been moving uneasily in his chair, darted a side'look at the woman from underneath his bristling eyebrows, and, without preliminary, jerked out the question:
 :" ''Nen you and your son set fire to der store, didn't you put der goods into bas- kets and put dem into der cellar, before you set fire to der store?"
 WITNESS (highly ercited). "When we set fire to the store! We.didn't set fire to the store." ,e.e..t.a
 KRAUT (uery detiberately). ''Didnt you put der goods into baskets and put dem into der cellar, ven you set fire to der store?''
 WITNESS. stNo.". -.' = o~i''~- -'--
 But, in the wave of sound on which that monosyllable of denial f1oated. to the ears of Court, counsel, and jury, there was a tremulous der-chrrent woke suspicion --just threb of of'conscience in the tone of voice which startled inquiry and was the key note of detection; and when, .Kraut doggedly followed up his attack with a third questen, run in the same mould, ssVen you and your son set fire to der store, :" etc., the woman fairly !ssbroke up," :" and the company's counsel, taking instant advantage. of the breach, pressed in with d whole platoon of cross-questions, until the real fraud, as foreshadowed in Kraut's interrogatories, was fully exposed. and the plaintiff driven out of court at the point of a verdict against him rendered by the jury without leaving their seats. -.
 Kraut was the hero of the day. The president of the company-the lawyers, whom he had helped to an, unexpected success-eEen the judge, usually indifer- ent to all the, fortunes of legal warfare ! complimented and thanked him. I really began to think had done him some in- justice myself, and as the crowd in the -conrt-room was -dispersing, said to him,
 s Well, MT. Kraut. you have done the state some service to-day" Kraut grinned acquiescence. sBy-the-way, I continued, ssdo tell me, as we are about to part, how yon happened to ask that question2'
 Kraut was intoxicated with success; and in success, as in wine, indiscretion is the ally f:fruth. +He could not keep his se- cret. He took me by the button hole, and drawing me into 8 corner of the room, behind the clerk 8 desk,
 is 'sVy, naeiA freund, you see, dat; is the very way that Brom, andaL got our insur aIace vrom der Venix.'' ,
 From the Venix?' ..z.
 'Yes, from der Venix Company
 ..tOhi" said ssyou cheated the Phoenix Company, and succeeded, precisely as these people tried to cheat the Jefferson and failedPae ass = s~ 'as-zr-
 s'Sheatl", said Kraut. .sderiwas no sheat- ing, for they never found it out, and
 Islppose there was something in the expression of my face which 'Krant rightly interpreted as ttssnsoice to quit, !" for he never finished his sentence, but made a precipitate exit from the courtroom, and was lost, Tn less than minute, in the de! parhng crowd. .4>ss U fi.@ l.-.4.--.se5 -----A ]
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