The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1896-10-03
a DECISION.


"This case," said the Judge, with q
serious yet half-tender glance at the
papers before him, sis one that enlists
the ardent sympathies Of the layman
and the more ardent interest Of the
legal student"
To hear judge Holbrook speaking this
n might have supposed that he was
beginning an address to a jury as coun-
sci for the claimants to a considerable
fortune; but, in fact, he was in his
library, in his own home, alone with
his books and his learning. Far from
being an advocate in the case in hand,
he vas the presiding justice.
He had been listening patiently all
day to the best eloquence that Cal
houn county could furnish. A half
dozen lawyers on each side had faced
him for eight hours, and all through
that time somebody had been talking
to him, some lawyer had been endeav-
oring to convince him as to the proper
disposition Of Josiah Tellafer's nor
nous fortune.
1t was now evening. Judge Hol-
brook had dined leisurely after the
long session and then had taken up the
briefs, with their hundred references,
for a conscientious, personal study of
the points involved. 1t never for a
yoov,nnf roinn1 him RI Van1or q do
cision against a perfectly prepared
may be he experienced an added pleas
ure in finding that tile statutes were
proof against the %cleverest attacks of
the advocates.
He took up the cas- in hand with as
much spirit as if he had not listened
to it all day. 1t was his habit to begin
the consideration of fine problems by
speaking his views aloud, for he had
been a famous pleader in his younger
days, and he found that it helped him
to concentrate his attention on his
work to argue the matter as il he was
trying to convince a third party.
Here Is q widow, a most estimable
lady, whose life must pass in abject
poverty if the law does not sustain her
claims. Associated with her ON the
same side and similarly circumstanced
are several young people and two very
old ones. And there is the lass, Eftie.
The loss of this suit means the ruin Of
her only romance. All, well, all these
are good people, good, modest, gener-
Gus, and yet SO situated that q trick of
the law may make them miserable for
life. l cannot help feeling sorry for
them"
The judge paused and glanced ad-
miringly at the pages of the brief.
Judge Holbrook's eyes twinkled with
pleasure as he came to a sentence of
remarkable brevity and more. remark
able lucidity. The window curtains
rustled, but the breeze failed to arouse
q whisper from the leaves Of the trees
or the great oleanders growing on the
lawn. The Judge turned over q page
Of the brief with q cracking sound of
stiff paper, and the curtains shook
with the-was it the breeze?
"a genuine lawyer, Routledge Hamp-
den," exclaimed the judge. smiling.
Ellis brief has put the claimants case
in q nut shell, and so beautifully that
it is almost sure to win."
He sat down in his big chair and
turned over the pages of a musty vol
ume in search of some Of the refer
ences in Lawyer Hampden's brief.
The curtains at his back stirred again
they parted slightly-a little wider.
A mans face appears there, eager, sus-
picious, cruel, repulsive. The curtains
fall together again with a culver, and
the tree tops can just whisper timor-
ously together under the influence Of
a Whit of air that does not stir the
oleanders near the ground.
"And to think" resumed the judge,
putting Hampden's brief aside and
taking up another, "of those person
ally interested on the other side. No
criminal evcr glared at me from the
dock with more vicious, vindictlve
eyes than Roanoke Walton. old Telia-
fer's nephew-a mar of evil propensi-
ties, selfish, h~ard-hearted, to whom the
possession of a fortune could confer no
GOOD but the cultivation of his bad ma
ture. His claim in natural equity
could not stand for II instant before
that of the Others"
The curtain divided again, and the
same face, intensely hateful and pas
sionate, peered for an instant ut the
judge. Even as it was looking, the
judge began again in a half declama-
tory tone:
"That the sublime fabric of the law
should uphold the claims of such a
monster is-is-unfortunate."
Judge Holbrook could not go farther
than this in criticism of the law. But
IL it proves that the law upholds his
claim, he must be supported by the
bench"
For several minutes the judge busted
himself over the defendants brief, an
alyzing the sentences, consulting ref
erences and jotting down notes. Pres
emily the Judge rose to his feet.
"There is another point" he ex-
claimed. "In tombstone versus Hayne
I recall that a similar situation was
disclosed, and, on my word, I believe
that Routledge Hampden failed to see
the bearing on this case. 1t will tend
strongly in his favor If my memory of
the decision is correct. How pleasant
it would be in this case to find the law
on the side of the innocent"
He found the volume of reports In
which Johnstone versus Hayne vas re-
corded and read the points and decis-
ion with evident satisfaction. The
man on the veranda was greatly ex-
cited. The suspicion in his face had
become desperation.
c.o4Y- ~ ~,,1lod tho curtains nSi6n