Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1890-11-06

/ rlSt ADner Heck formally take MS plac
upon the bench. He ascended the step
with slow and digniied gait, sank bacl
in the big arm chair, and leaned hi
head against his hand. As he gazed be
nignly into the face of his assembled
friends and neighbors. he seemed tt
them the very personiticatiOn of /;
Sense of Justice.
One-half of the lawyers table wa:
taken up by Judge Bellows, who repre-
sented the plaintiff. On his right hant
were Deacon Hobley and his wife. The
law books of Mr.. Ralph Elliott vert
spread out over the remaining half OF
the table. After brief wrangle with
her father, in which she, as usual, came
out victorious, Miss Ethel had accom-,
panied Mr.. Elliott into the court room
and now occupied a seat at his side
The Colonel sat behind, and with him
was Peter Martin, the unlucky coach
man who was accused of responsibility
for the smashing of the deacOn's cart.
1.-The Judge is looking at us, whis-
pered Miss Dutton; "did you ever see
such funny woolly hair in all your life?'
Never mind his hair" answered Ell
liott; what | want to know is how to
get at him. If You could catch his eye
and smile sweetly on him"
"Tell me when it is the right time for
for him to decide our way, and I'll do
it" said the young lady.
There's no use in having jury, you
understand" said the Colonel, leaning
forward; "the old mandarin will sit
there and tell them what their verdict
must be-"
"Well, we will make the best defense
that we can and then throw ourselves on
the mercy of the Court"
"Small mercy it will be-" growled the
Colonel; she has it in for me-they all
have. suppose L must pay the $3.50
and costs, as prayed for And the
ID cart wasn't worth the $50 that l
offered as a compromise"
The case opened with Deacon Hobley
on the witness stand. He told how he
had left his cart hitched in the road, ,and
how the runaway colt and blackboard
had smashed it into shoepegs.
did you see all this yourself ?" in
quired Mr.. Elliott.
NO; l wasn't there" answered the
witness, ''but my da'ter, she told me
about it."
81 move that that testimony be all
stricken out" said Elliott.
look here, young man." said the
deacon, ''if You mean to 'sinuaJe that
my da'ter-"
Deacon cried the court, reproving
ly, and the plaintiff was silenced. Then,
turning toward Elliott, the Judge said,
with very distinct emphasis:
THAT motion amt passed"
The young attorney who had risen to
his feet, gave gulp of astOnishment,
looked about him for moment, as if to
take his bearings anew, and then re-
sumed his chair
The deacon continued his testimony.
He had come now to the matter of the
value of the cart, which he placed at the
modest sum of $3.50. When called upon
to give a reason for putting it at this
figure, he stated that Ike Convers had
said it was worth it.
ave object" cried Elliott, starting up
again; "if the plaintiff wants to intro
duce the testimony of Ike Convers, as an
expert on carts, why does he not sub
p9na him?'
There was sudden and an awful
hush in the court room. The Judge
turned slowly around in his chair and
leaned forward across his desk toward
Elliott, saying:
because he is dead"
"Well, we object to such testimony as
this" continued Elliott, with reckless
ness that caused some of his hearers
fairly to hold their breath; sit is incOm-
petent and immaterial."
"lke Convers incompetent" exclaim-
ed the deacon; why, young man, he was
the best wagon maker"
"Deacon," interrupted the Judge, 'let
me answer this objection" Then he
continued, in solemn judicial tones:
This Court knew Ike Convers well, and
it holds that his judgment in a matter OF
this kind was better than that of any
man now living in this country. The
witness may proceed"
"You see it's no use," whispered the
Colonel, as Elliott, silenced aud aghaSt,
dropped back into his seat; ''you may as
well take it easy. The more you object,
the more you will inspire the old FOOLS
prejudice"
"Well, where does that sense of just
ice come in?" asked Elliott.
"Tell me-" interrupted Miss Ethel,
gic 70 tn IN rt
the Court?"
"Not yet" answered Elliott. He
pondered on the situation few mo-
ments. Was there sense of justice in
that round pink head? If so, low was
he to get at it? There was something
about the f1axen poll that reminded him
of Polonius, and he began to mutter alb
sently to himself the phrase so dear to
the heart of the fat-witted diplomatist.
"By indirections find directions out.
In that moment, he hit upon plan.
By this time the witness was telling
the Court and the spectators generally
his opinion of Peter Martin. Colonel Dut
TONS "hired man." as tanner of colts.
Elliott sprang to his feet and objected.
He was promptly crushed by the Court.
The deacon went on. When he had fin
shed a short dissertation on Col. Dut-
ton and other men who came down from
the city and tried to run things in
Yoakum, Elliott moved to strike the tes
.imony out on the ground that it was
The motion was denied.
So it continued through the remainder
Of the deacon's occupancy of the witness
stand. Elliott rose up at the end of
nearly every sentence and offered some
objection. The deacon got mad, Judge
Bellows, his attorney, got mad, and even
he Court showed evidence of the great
internal struggle that was necessary for
him to keep his temper under control.
Elliott assumed a dogged and insolent
,ir, that astonished Ethel and her father,
md exasperated everybody else. There
was no longer any doubt that he had ex-
cited the prejudice of the Court against
him to lively degree.
Mrs. Hobley was the next witness.