The Forrest City times., 1904-01-29

idHu on Wnlcn they had SQuatted He
ended with a splendid peroration de-
handing that courage and honesty
govern the votes cast and that the great
est good to the greatest number and the
onward progress of the race should not
be halted by timidity, sentimentality
and demagogy.
The speech was a triumph of oratory
and of human reason, and Melbourne
left the capitol with the plaudits of his
fellows and conscious that he had won
"a tremendous triumph.
lie entered his office with feeling of
eiatlon such as he seldom had ex-
perlenced. He always maintained what
he termed an office" in connection with
his bachelor apartments. His steno-
grapher was already rafting off the
speech on the typewriter He always
had his own stenographer take his
speeches, as he liked to see them in cold
type just "a he made them. Ii helped
him in self-criticsm.
They seemed to like the speech. Miss
WILSON, he said. laughing in self
satisfied way. What cid you think of
it,"
The girl turned her serious face and
clear gray eyes toward him. and after
moments hesitation. replied:
Il think it was very clever and a
very eloquent and a very convincing
speech Mr.. Melbourne hut ] would
have had my right hand cut off before |
would have delivered it."
Melbourne paused in the removal of
his gloves, and looked a trifie puzzled
and amused
Why" he asked Surely your clear
ranters"
NO. it isn't that" she replied, land I
cannot argue il with you, of course. But
| was thinking of those poor settlers
who have gone out into that wilderness
and of all the toll and hardships they
have gone through. and now Uncle Sam
is to tell them as he told the Indians,
Move on And they must go out and
find other bad lands that nobody else
wants and start over again and starve
and suffer and endure And they are so
much older Tow and it means the same
hard life for the younger generation ard
the one following that | fear And the
women and children have suffered so
much.
Her eyes had grown softer and softer
as she progressed and they were bright
with tears as she stopped her voice
trailing off into something between a
whisper and a sob at the last. Mel
bourne's face was serious and the
amused expression had been swallowed
up by the puzzled.
What co you know about these peo-
pie, Miss Wilson," he asked.
Il lived am ong them once" she
said as she turned to the machine and
began to rattle the keys
Melbourne passed into his inner office,
sat down at his desk and went to work
at his papers. His face was still serious
and every now and then look of an
noyaEce would steal into it.
The months sped by. The Bracken
bill became a law and was attacked by
an attorney representing the settlers.
The irrigation corporation retained
Robert Melbourne as chief counsel, as
sisted by the ablest lawyers in the coun-
u lie lIdlltI was dSltu INV NAC
supreme court to ascertain the con-
stitutionaity of the provisions of the
law that deprived the settlers of their
claim to the land they held Melbourne
took great interest in the case, as ii
promised to be a famous one, and
victory would give him wide prestige.
He worked hard and diligently on the
brief and ransacked the law books night
and day for precedents. His stenog
rapher wrote and rewrote the various
paragraphs over and over again. Once
in awhile as he glanced at her grave face
and calm eyes doubt would possess his
mind. but he would dismiss it and
plunge into the work harder than ever
At last the brief was finished and Mel
bourne asked Miss Wilson to read it
TO him. 1t was a habit of his to have
her do this while he sat with closed eyes
and tried to pick vulnerable point. He
could not find the suggestion Of flaw in
this one.
We'll Miss Wilson" he said. Il
call that a work of art. can't see how
they can get away from those PROPOSE
tions, do your"
mo sir. do not she replied, and
il certainly is work of art. But
would rather that my brother, or my
father. were in their graves than that
they should do that thirg-even with
all the fame it would bring them
He looked at her intently for mo-
ment. then rose abruptly and went out,
saying:
Il am going out of town for a few days
maybe two weeks. Put the brief in
the safe. | will be back in time to file
it
1t was fully two weeks before he re-
turned. When he cid he asked Miss
Wilson to bring him the brief in the
Bracken case II was in the late fall
and fire was burning in the open crate.
He glanced the brief through and tossed
II into the blaze.