The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-11-24
CHAPTER XVI.

John Earling did not easily find the
pathway into the popped kingdom
that night, but lay a long time awake
in his high room close under the roof
of Bowers Block, thinking of the old
LAWYERS curious methods with his
daug hter, and that doe-footed daugh-
ter's curious charms. At last, with a
kind of drowsy pleasure in his blood,
he drifted through the fowery gate
way into the restful realm of dreams.
But even into that silent vapory place
the charm of Maun's willowy motion
went with him; for he thought he saw
her standing before him, something like
beautiful flame, that slowly wavered
upward and away into whispering
mist out of which the silken- headed
form of little Celeste suddenly ran to-
ward him with outstretched arms
through a slanting shower of sunlit
rain, and swerved away into darkness
with a frightened, silvery cry. He
awoke at that, and found himself sit
ting up with arms extended in the di-
rection she had seemed to go, and for
some moments could not persuade
himself but that his dream was true.
Then he knew that soft summer rain
had come up and was tapping upon
his window with its velvet tinger-tips
and crossing the big tin roof with
thousand tiny velvet feet. In mo-
ment it had gone, pattering away over
the house-tops into the fields, and an
other cloud shod with liquid moved
slowly over the sleeping town. Broad
and soft it came on and deepened into
a deluge for moment, then slackened,
and with some booms of thunder that
beloved away into the caves of heav-
en-, deepened again, and presently whis-
pered into silence. John Earling, list
ening, thought of Maun's music, and
fell asleep with that memory mingling
with the memory of Celeste's far-otf
silvery cry.
In the morning, when he awoke, the
sunlight falling through his window
was scattering the wall with vapory
! gold and he sprang up to feel his
dream come suddenly back upon him,
and he had worked several hours that
morning before he lost its weird mys-
FERROUS charm.
After Judge Bower had gone home
that evening the old lawyer, who
seemed through his silent year-long
struggle to have put aside in part his
jealousy of Maun through his affection
for John Earring, began talking again
in his old way Of the law. Going over
some of his cases that had fallen with
in the last decade of Openstone's his
tory, he stopped short and looked at
John Earling as if sudden thought
had arrested his ideas. II suppose
you have noticed that | have cleared a
good many criminals?" he said.
eyes, SIR" said John Earling, with
his clear eyes on the old mans face, II
have noticed it, and also that you have
expressed the opinion that number
Of them were guilty. l should like to
protest against that"
The old lawyer threw his chin up
and let a quick "Haw! haw!' escape
him. lit wouldn't do any good" he
said; ga mans reputation as a lawyer
don't depend as much on the number
that he convicts as upon the number of
acquittals he brings about, especially
in criminal practice. Ifyou succeed in
turning loose lot of murderers and
thieves to prey upon the dear public,
the dear soft-livered public will pat you
on the back and you will be great and
have riches, and generally they will
gratefully send you to Congress. The
old man spit quickly and burst into a
kind of derisive laugh, and John Earl
ing looked out the window with sad
bitterness.
"Oh people are fools, mere fools, "
the old lawyer burst out. "Gull the
individual and it pleases the great
body. They do SO admire a smart
man; smart one, remember, not a
good one. Snum!' and he thrust his
claw-like hand out and fetched it back,
as if he had jerked the scalp from col
lective humanity.
''They may like the smart bad one
best at the beginning, bat they will like
the good one best at the last. That is
history" said John Earring.
But the old lawyer was looking down
in a meditatlve way, and went on re-
gardless of what the young man had
said: II expect they will be electing
Joel Whitney to some big Office one Of
these days; send him to Congress, or
some other paradise for moral ruins, to
serve them and guard their interests;
and no man in the district has done an
oilier job of quilting than he, unless it
is Judge Ashman, who got rich out of
:. the people and then had them GUST
Bower and give him the judgeship
eight years ago. They have been after
me, too, good many times, wanting to
make me their noble mouth-piece in the
halls where laws and loopholes are
manufactured, but was too honest to
allow them to use me to their own hurt. p"
And the old man gave a hooking
Haw! "No, haven't been friend to
the people. l have only turned loose
several criminals among them, and
they think me wise as llghtnin' bah!
the fools!'' And he got up and went
across the room and stood before the
window, looking out.
John Earling looked at his tall,
crooked form, sharpened and accent
ed against the background of dim
outdoor light, and something like adj
miration of the old lawyers anger,
mixed with a kind of horror of his
achievements, clouded his eyes. Sud-
denly the old attorney wheeled about
with his hands in his pockets and came
back and sat down.
"There is one thing you may as well
know" he began, sand that is that
you're going to have a hard time putting
your ideas into practice here. I'll give