Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-08-07
A CURIOUS CA>E.
CHAPTER 1.

never mind the exact year; it can easily
be fixed when say that it was very hot
and close SUMNER time. London literally
broiled, and those who could afford the
time and the money to get out of 1t did so
as soon as they could.
We were already in the second week
of the Long Vacation, but as yet l had
not been able to arrange my work so as
to take advantage of it. d
l had had some very heavy cases.
which, with the exception of one, l had
successfully carried through.
The one lost, however, | had taken
the most trouble with. 1t was from the
first most hopeless and unpromising af-
| fair, and when it was first submitted to
me I advised that it should be dropped
In an after consultation, however, 1 was
so pressed that l consented to accept a
brief for the plaintiff.
There was just one possibility of suc-
cess, but had never any great hope, and
so 1 told both the plaintiff and the plain
tiff's solicitors The action was for the
restitution Of some property which had
been, it was alleged, illegally willed
away.
My client was tall. gaunt, hollow
eyed man.. His sole idea was to get back
this property do not think he thought
of anything else; he seemed to eat the
subject, to drink it, and to sleep it. He
carried about with him continually vari-
Gus documents relating to it. Most of
these were concealed in his hat, and, from
their having been often fingered, and
from the character of their abiding place,
they had assumed very greasy as
pect
So soon as l had consented to take the
brief, in defiance of all legal etiquette, he
used 10 address letters to me upon the
casejong, rambling letters of sometimes
four or five pages Of foolscap. They
were written with formal margin,
where appeared an abstract of each para
graph in red ink At first I used to re-
turn these letters, begging the writer to
send them to his solicitors, and not to
me. Then got angry and wrote to the
solicitors, but they said that copies of
these letters were duly forwarded to
them.
AS time went on the plaintiff used to
waylay me. 1 would find him waiting
for me when | got to my chambers in the
morning.
tried all sorts of ways of escaping this
persistent client, when l found out how
hopeless it was to make him understand
that l did not want to be bothered with
him. He was up to all my moves, how
ever, and once or twice managed to lay
hold of me in such places that I could
not be rude to him.
He got to know the days on which I
had to appear at thevarious courts, and
1 mostly found him waiting to communi-
cate something to me as l emerged into
Westminster Hall.
my great relief, and when on the third
day he did not make his appearance,
began to hope that he had ceased to
bother me-
On the fourth day, as 1 came out of
the Common Pleas, the policeman on
duty at the door informed me that a
young lady had been inquiring for me.
Such an unusual and out-of- the way
circumstance made me ask somewhat in
credulously:
''For me?"
eyes, sir; she said she had letter for
Mr.. Sylvester
"Why did she not give. it to my clerk"
81 wanted her to do so, but she would
not; she said she must not deliver it to
anybody else"
"What was she like?"
"Well, sir, you can judge for yourself,
for here she comes"
From the direction of the door l saw
the slight figure of girl coming toward
me. Her carriage was very graceful, and
not withouta certain dignity. She was
clad entirely in black, with the exception
of something of white, gauzy material
around her throat l had only time to
note further that she wore thick veil
over her face, and then she had reached
the steps on which was standing.
"This is Mr.. Sylvester" said the
policeman.
She turned toward me, and could see
the outlines of an oval face, and the
flashing of a pair of bright eyes from be-
hind the veil.
81 was directed to give you this" she
said, in soft, silvery voice; and she put
into my hand long blue envelope, the
very sight of which sent shudder clear
through me. There was the direction, in
the distinct, but formal and grabbed
handwriting of my client, 'To Ernest
Sylvester, Esq, Barrister-at-law, ETC.,
etc.
"Stay one moment" 1 said, when 1
had recovered from the temporary dis
traction caused by the sight of the envel-
ope. "Stay, there may be an answer"
and feigned an extraordinary interest in
the contents of the envelope, for the sole
purpose Of entering into conversation
with the fair carrier.
"There is no answer" she said, with
half sigh, [ thought; then she turned
away and walked off with quick, grace
full step.
My first impulse was to rush after her
and learn something more of her, but the
sense of righteousness of sedate member
of the Bar rushing into Palace Yard in
his wig and gown after young woman
struck me at once; and so l solemnly
looked at the documents in the.envelope,
conscious that had better keep up my
dignity before the policeman. Then |
shook my head gravely, and slowly made
my way to the robing-room. In my hasty
glance at a letter inclosed with one of
the interminable .epistles my curious
client had favored me with, learnt that