Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1886-11-04
A SCHENIER.

gas Q matter Of fact Sybil was more
impatient than nervous; and presently,
when she was ushered into the solicit
or's room, she had all her wits about
her, and looked straight and composed
ly into his face.
"What can do for you, madam?n
81 am the daughter Of DIR. Eason, of
Morley-sq, Bayswater, |" she stated, "and
wish to ask Won In the first place wheth-
er you would under any circumstances
undertake case for him without being
sure Of payment I'm the event Of its
being decided against him."
"Um-that would depend upon the
nature of the case" replied Mr.. Wig
gins cautiously. "I might of course
be able to predict the issue with GER
tainty."
Itwould take many words,n she
said, "for Eve written it all down clear
ly, so as not to make q mess oft in the
telling.n ~ GE ~ 81
"My dear young lady, what admira-
BILE forethought?" ~
Hispretty visitor produced a note
book and proceeded to set forth, with
details into which we need not enter.
how her fathers claim TO a legacy of
e50,000 was being disputed on account
of mere technicality bya certain Mr..
Hugh Lorrain, of Queens Gate, to
whom the money must come If the will
was proved invalid.
"My father is too poor to fight it out"
said the girl. HE is afraid of heavy
law expenses and would rather give
everything up at once. That is why
I have come to you. There are ever so
.T ouA nj thA
dreadfully; why should we surrender it
without a struggle to this mean man
who has not shadow of real right to
it?n
"My dear Miss Eason" he exclaim-
ed, with quite unprofessional gallantry,
~ place myself funreservedly at the SER
vice of your youth and beauty. Let
your father come and give me instruc-
tions, and will do all can for him."
"Must you see him?" asked Sybil, in
dismay. "Wont what have told you
do? Heis sure to decline to accept
your generous offer. Oh, Mr.. Virgins!
Couldn't you make it double or quits?
Let him pay you double, mean, if he
wins, and nothing if he loses"
The solicitors eyes twinkled at this
refreshing ingenuity on the part of a
client.
"Well, WE'LL" he said.
The afternoon was drawing to q close,
and presently Mr.. Virgins, still think
ing over the Lorrain case put on his
shaggy old hat and prepared to leave
the office. AS he passed outside the
door of an inner room, where he wished
to deposit some papers, a sudden
thought struck him.
"Hugh Lorrain had sonw he ex-
claimed.
''That girl was only little thing
when I left Morley Square, and in
those days I used to visit at Hugh Lor-
rains and see his boy BERTHE, who was
at Eton. He must be six or seven and
twenty now. Who was the king who
planned q match to stave off the Thirty
Years war? War? Well, why not
Virgins. to nip lawsuit in the bud?
James was bungler, and failed; Wig
gins isn't, and won't"
The next day DIR. Eason, a nervous
man with thin, fair face and deprecat-
ing manner, called and gave him not
only all the information in his possess
ion, but full instructions to act for him.
AS q first move he found out that the
young man was at present in an archi-
tects office in Bloomsbury. Thither at
lunch-time the very next day old Wig
gins betook himself.
"Well, BERTHE Lorrain, it's a long
while since 1 tumbled across you," he
observed.
The young man could not fail to recog-
nize the queer, addressed, bright-eyed
little man whom he had often seen at
his fathers house in bygone days.
"Mr. Virgins, as live!" he returned,
shaking hands cordially, land not
looking day older"
Cant say the same for you, my boy.
You have grown into the man about
town since last saw you. What are
you doing?n
"Oh, grindingin an architects office
near here.n
Married, or engaged, or goingto be?"
"No.n
"Bravo! that sounds sensible. No
woman worth having, eh?n
"That's what mean to think till 1
get some cash, anyhow y he said.
At the end of an amicable conversa-
ton the two parted with mutual friend
illness, Lorrain promising to dine with
the solicitor the following Thursday.
Obviously the next move was to get
DR.. Eason to bring his wife and daught-
er the same day; and consent to this be-
ing obtained, Virgins felt that the bat
tie was half won.
Lorrain was the first to arrive, admir-
ably dressed, and with dash of the pa
trician about his open, self-possessed
bearing, which Virgins noted with
approval as sure to impress the unso-
phisticated Sybil.
SYPHILIS allowance was what girls call
''skimpy," but she had knack of put
ting on her clothes so that the poorest
of them looked we'll on her; and as she
stepped in now, with soft folds of In
dian muslin falling around her lissome
figure, flush on her cheeks and a
smile on her lips for her friend Mr..
Virgins, she made charming picture,
and one that affected an abiding lodg-
ment for itself in Lorrain's mind.
AS for her, she was good deal eXcit-
ed at being introduced to any one by
the name of Lorrain. At first she tried
to be cool and reserved, but soon she
unbent, rejecting that she might have
caught the name wrong, or he might
belong to quite another family of Lor-
rains. In the course of dinner, how
ever, he asked her whether she lived
in Morley-Square, and she flashed the
question back at him, did he live in
Queens Gate?--upon which momen-
tary silence ensued, which was broken
bya deft reference on Virgins part to
what he had found out to be Bertie's