The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1897-03-06
A De ioI

This cas-" said the Judge, with 1
serious vet half-tender glance at I'll,
papers before him, sis one that enlist,
the ardent pathies Of the layma1
and the more ardent interest OF tht
l legal student. =
To hear judge Hol brook speaking ths
one might have supp posed that he wa,
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 witt
his books and his learning. Far from
being an advocate in the case in hand
/ he was the presiding justice. ii.
He had been listening patiently ali
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 enor.
nous fortune.
It was now evening. Judge Hol-
brook had dined leisurely after the
long session and then had taken up the
| briefs, with their hun4reG references,
for g. conscientious, personal study Of
the points involved. It never for q
moment panied him to render a. de
cision against perfectly prepared
case. He worshiped the law, and ii
may be he experienced an added pleas
ure in finding that the statutes were
| proof against the cleyerest attacks of
! the advocates. r.
lie took up the case in hand with as
much spirit as if he had not listened
to it all day. It was his habit to begin
| the consideration Of fine problems BY
| speaking his views aloud, for he had
been 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 If he was
trying to convince third party
Here is a 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, Effie.
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 trick Of
the law may make them miserable for
life. I cannot help feeling sorry for
them" So
The judge paused and glanced adj
miringly at the pages of the brief:
Judge Holbrook's eyes twinkled with
pleasure as he came to sentence Of
remarkable brevity and more remark
able lucidity. The window curtains
rustled, but the breeze failed to arouse
whisper from the leaves of the trees
or the great oleanders growing on the
lawn. The Judge turned over a page
Of the brief with cracking sound Of
stiff paper, and the curtains shook.
with theWas it the breeze? ss
a genuine lawyer, Routledge Hamp-
der, exclaimed the judge, smiling.
His brief has put the claimants case
in nut shell, and so eautifully that
It is almost sure to win.'''
He sat down in his big chair and
turned over the pages Of 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, .sof those person
ally interested on the other side. No
criminal ever glared at me from the
dock with more vicious, vindictiye
eyes than Roanoke Walton, old Telia-s
fers nephew-a man Of evil propensi-
ties, selfish, hard-hearted, to whom the
possession Of fortune could confer no
good but the cultivation Of his bad ma
ture. His claim in natural equity
could not stand for one instant before
that Of the Others" s=
The curtain divided again, and the
same face, intensely hateful and pas
sionate, peered for an instant at the
judge. Even as it awas looking, the
Judge began again in a half declama-
tory tone:
.sThat the sublime fabric Of the law
should uphold the claims Of such
monster -is-unfo fortunate .
Judge Holbrook could not go farther
than this in criticism Of the law. FstBut
if it proves that the law upholds his
claim, he must be supported by the
bench. =