Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1888-12-28
There was a nausea painful pause.

'
a barrister who was sitting next him, and
realized his plight.
This was an idea. One can read plead
ings when one cannot collect ones ide;.s to
speak. 1t rs not usual to do so. The cum
sci in cause states the substance of the
pIeadings. leaving the Court to refer &c
them if it thinks necessary. But still
there was nothing absolutely wrong about
it: so he snatched at the papers, and
promptly began:
cd The plaintiff is the sole and uni
versal legatee under the true last will of
Jonathan Meeson, deceased. late OF Pom
padour Hall, in the county of Warwick,
who died on the 23d of December, 1888, the
said Will being undated, but duly executed
on, or subsequent 10, the 22d day of De
cember, 1879.
Here the learned Judge lifted his eye
brows in remOnstrance, and cleared his
throat preparatory to interfering; but ap-
parently thought better Of it, for he took
up a blue pencil and made a note of the
date of the will.
LII" went on James. "On the 21st
day of May, 1856, probate of an alleged
will of the said Jonathan MeesOn was
granted to me defendants, the said viii
bearing date the 10th of November, 1885.
The plaintiff claims
10 That the Court shall revoke pro-
bate of the said alleged will of the said
Jonathan MeesOn, bearing date the 10Th
day of November, 1885, granted to the de-
PENDANTS on the Dist day Of May, 1886.
"2) 4 grant Of letters Of adminiStra-
tion to the plaintiff with the Will executed
on or s .bsequent to the 22d day of Decem-
Der, 1885, annexed.
"(Signed) JAMES SHORT"
MAY it please your Lordship,' James
began, again feeling dimly that he had
read enough pleadings, the defendants
have filed an answer pleading that the
will of the 22d of December was not duly
executed in accordance with the ia ute,
and that the testator did not h ow and
approve its contents, and an am nd | an
swer pleading that the said alleged will,
if executed, was obtained by the undue in
fiuence of Augusta Smithers''-and once
more his nervousness overcame him, and
he pulled up with a jerk.
Then came another pause even more
dreadful than the first.
The Judge took another note, as slowly
as he could, and once more cleared his
throat; but poor James could not go on.
He could only wish that he might then
and there expire, rather than face the
hideOus humiliation of such failure. But
he would have failed, for his very brain
was whirlng like that of a drunken man,
had it not been for an occurrence that
caused him forever after to bless the name
of Fiddlestick, q. c., as the name of an
eminent counsel is not often blessed in
this ungrateful world. For Fiddlestick,
Q. c.. who, it will be remembered, was
one of the leaders for the defendants, had
been watching his unfortunate antagonist,
till, realizing how sorry was his plight,
sense Of pity filed his learned breast.
Perhaps he may have remembered some
occasion, in the dim and distant corner of
the past, when he had suffered from
similar access of frantic terror, or perhaps
he may have been sorry to think that q
young man should lose such an unrivaled
opportunity of making name. Anyhow,
he did a noble act. As it happened, he
was sitting at the right-hand corner of the
queens counsel seats, and piled up on the
desk before him was a tremendous mass
of law reports which his clerk had ar
ranged there, containing cases to which it
might become necessary to refer. Now,
in the presence of these law reports, Mr..
Fiddlestick, in the goodness of his heart,
saw an opportunity of creating diversion
and he created it with vengeance Fey
throwing his weight suddenly forward as
though by accident, or in movement OF
against the pile with such force that he
sent every book, and there must have been
more than twenty OF them, over the edge
of the desk right on to the head and shoul.
ders of his choleric client, Mr. Addison.
who was sitting Immediately beneath, on
the solicitors bench.
Down went the books with a crash and
bang, and, carried away by their weight.
down went Mr.. Addison on to his nose
among them-a contingency that Fiddle,
stick, G. c., by the way, had not foreseen,
for he had overlooked the fact of his eli.
ents vicinity.
The Judge made an awful face, and
then, realizing he IudicrouS nature of the
scene, his features relaxed into smile.
He bounded up OIL the floor, books slipping
off his back III every direction, and, hold.
| ing his nose (Which was iniured) with one
| hand, came skipping right at his learned
adviser.
You did it ON purposer' he almost
shouted, quite forgetting where he was:
lust let me get ut him, I'll have his wig
OFF, and then, without waiting for any
| more, the entire audience burst out into
roar of laughter, which, however unseen
| ly, was perfectly reasonable; during which
| Mr.. Fiddlestick could be seen apologizing
in dumb show, with bland smile upon
his Countenance, while Mr. News and Mr..
Roscoe between them dragged the out
ragged Addison to his seat and proffered
him h1ndkerchiefS to wipe his bleeding
nose.
James saw the whole thing, and, for,
getting his position, laughed too; and, for
some mysterious reason, with the laugh
his nervousness pissed away.
The usher shouted "Silencer' with tire.
mendous energy, and before the sound
had died away James was addressing the
Court in Il clear ami vigorous voice, con
sCiouS that he was thorough ma-er of
his case, and the words to state it in would
not fail him. FiddleStick, Q. c., had saved
him
MAY it please your Lordship," he be-
gan, the details of this case are of as re-
markable an order as any that to my
knowledge have been brought before the
Court. The plaintiff, Eustace Meeson, is
the sole next of kin of Jonathan Meeson,
Esquire, the late head of the well-known
Birmingham publishing firm of Meeson.
Addison, and Roscoe. Under WILL bear
ing date the Sth day of May, 1880, the
plaintiff was left sole heir to the great
wealth of his uncle-that is, with the ex-
ception of some legacies. Under second
will, now relied on by the defendants, and
dated the 10th of November, 1885. the plain
tiff was entirely disinherited, and the pres
ent defendants, together with some six OF
eight legatees, were constituted the sole
beneticiaries. On or about the 22d of De-
cember, 1885, however, the testator ex-
ecuted a third teStamentary document
under which the plaintiff takes the entire
property. and this is the document now
propounded. This testamentary document,
or, rather, will-for l submit that it is in
every sense a properly executed willis tat
tooed upon the shoulders" Sensation in
court)-''is tattooed upon the shoulders ofa
young lady, Miss Augusta Smithers. who
will presently be called before your Lord
ship; and 10 prevent any misunderstood
ing l may as well at once state that since
this event, this lady has become engaged
to be married to the plaintiff" (Renewed
senSatiOn.)
such, my Lord, are the main outlines
of the case that have to present for the
consideration of the Court, which l think
your Lordship will understand is of so re-
markable and unprecedented nature
that must crave your LOrdship's indulg.
ence if proceed to open it at some length,
beginning the history at its commence
ment.'
BY this time James Short had comp lete
" recovered his nerve and was. indeed,
almost obhvious of the fact that there was