Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1873-10-02

ana thought there was good opening
here. But L didn't find business come in
go fast I ou see there isn't much litiga-
ton in these parts. The big swells are in
the hands oftheir London LAWYERS, and if a
poor freeholder wants bit of money. he'll
borrow it on a note of hand from a neigh
Dor, without regular mortgage deed, and
1t isn't often that any land changes hands :;
and then | was the only LAWYER in the
place, and that was against me. Still,
had all there was to be got | was clerk
to The magistrates, clerk TO the highway,
clerk to the commissioners of this or that !;
but these things, although they sound
large, don't bring in much. Well, what
with furnishing my house and office, and
so on, I'd spent the little money had got,
and had to borrow more; still, / knew l
should come out right in time, and my
wife, though young, was a capital mana
ger, and would make a crown go as far as
a pound.
However, l was very much pleased
when my eighteenth cousin, Watkins
William Watkins, a man who had always
been very friendly to me in a naughty,
distant sort of way, commended my atten-
tion at Wyddham castle. He told me
that Her Majesty had insisted on his ac-
cepting the onerous but dignitied position
OF High Sheriff of the county, and that he,
W. ". W, had graciously determined to
appoint me his under sheriff He was
also pleased to invite me to luncheon, and
among the distinguished party at the cas-
tie found an acquaintance, Capt. Potts,
who, with Lady Laura Potts, his wife,
was on visit there. Potts was not one
of those fellows who are devilishly friend
ly by riverside, deuced cold in society.
tie came forward at once TO claim my ac-
quaintance and TO introduce me to Lady
Laura, a delightful little woman She
made d slave OF me at once {of course,
subject to my allegiance to my MaryJane)
Invent home much pleased at my reception,
| and at the appointment | had received !;
not that 1t was worth very much in itself,
but II gave me a sort of standing, and was
an opening.
My relative didn't, however, forget to
cali upon me to find two sureties in
1000 each, to indemnify him in any ac-
ton that might be brought against him.
1t was the usual thing. One of my sure
ties was my poor old father, who was then
living IN cottage near Llandolwen. The
other surety was an old gentleman who
hai always been very kind to me, and
who had accumulated little money in a
long life of thrift and industry | never
dreamed of such a thing as their being
called upon to pay anything for me
never. 1t was a mere form, | told them
I'd not much to do as under-sheritf for
some time. There were only few levies,
which were paid out, and which put few
pounds into my pocket; but | was in great
force at the assiZes. | was in much re
quest among the ladies, to get them places
IN court, and when the Judge, whom
recollected as leading O. c. when | fin
1shed IN London, and whom | had met at
consultations sometimes, condescended to
have chat with me, and asked to be pre-
sented to Mary Jane, | felt as if | had at
tanned to a considerable elevation After
the spring assizes had a little leisure. 1t
was one of the best fishing seasons | ever
remember, and | used to be on the river
every day, and every day l would meet
Potts. We became great friends, and
Potts would often come to my house and
have smoke and glass of grog.
/ was much annoyed then, when one
Tuesday mornings post brought down a
ca. sa. from my agents, indorSed by the
firm of Moses & Mosheim, commanding
me to take the body Of one Bellingham
BlIingsgate Potts and bring him before
Her Majesty's court of exchequer. And l
was to have met Potts that very
afternoon! Duty is duty, and I
couldn't think of giving poor Potts
any warning of the danger which
threatened him. | sent for the two bum
bailitfs who did the few jobs that occurred
in our part of the country. | explained
to them what they had to do, and they
seemed pleased with the work Had it
been one Of their own countrymen who
was in the mess, they would have under
taken the business with reluctance To
my horror, five minutes after | had dis
missed the men, Potts himself put his
head through my office doorway.
"Hullo, Roberts," he cried; "busy as
usual, old fellow? May come in ~
My presence of mind forsook me;
could only gasp for breath and point to
the door, Potts came in alarmed What
on earth is the matter!"
Just then the two buns, who had traced
Potts TO my office, bounded in and seiz-
ed Potts roughly on each side, almost
tearing the coat off his back. But Potts
was as nimble as an eel. He drove his
elbow into the long mans stomach, and
doubled him up in an instant, and let fly
his right into the face of little Jones, send
ing him spinning across the room. There
were two doors opening into my Office :;
one lea 10 JIle outer or clerk s once, the
other, opposite, opened directly into a lit
tie back street. This latter was usually
locked and the key hung on nail close
to my desk. BY this door Potts and had
often made our way TO the Prince Level
lyn for our morning beer Potts conse-
quently knew well where the key was to
be found, and saw in a moment the way
of escape. The very same idea flashed
into my mind the same instant.
Ought | to have remained passive and let
him escape? Shouldn't have acted neg
ligently and dishonesty in my office
had | done so? | don't know
which l ought to have done; and though
all these things darted through my brain
while Potts took single step across the
room, vet | don't think it was from any
just sense of right or wrong, but from a
sort of professional instinct kind of
spiderish feeling, that | seized the key
and put it in my pocket. Potts gave me
a look Of scorn and reproach, and then,
putting his hands in his pocket, he leaned
back against the mantle-piece and
laughed.
Are you all going mad? What's the
meaning of this?"
at means, Capt. Potts" said l, feeling
smaller than | had done IN my life before,
" that these men have a warrant for your
apprehension for a debt of-how much
tl20 and costs?"
why didn't you say so before?" said
y, l..