The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1907-11-08

'Prue Johnson, do you take me for
an idiot" exclaimed the mother in
establishment. DO you think l want
to lose 800 and costs, besides $40 mora
for lawyer? Folks around here think
I'm pretty smart woman, and don't
want to be made a laughinsstock Of.
That bean pole of a young man would
not know enough to cross examine an
old cow"
Lawyer Parsons, who was the lead
ing member of the bar in the town.,
was retained, and the expected sum-
mons was served next day. A week
later the suit came on. During the in
terval young Livingstone drove out to
the Johnson farm. Miss Prue had
gone to town to do some shopping, and
the mother was blunt and brusque.
The budding attorney almost offered
his services in the coming suit, and the
look he received in reply fingered with
him for many hours. When Prue got
home she was told that there had got
to be stop to this sort of thing, but
when she burst into tears and said
she could not help it her mother was
reasonable enough to reply that maybe
she could not.
The girl went to town with the moth
er on the day of the suit In the court
room q shock Of surprise awaited her.
Darius Livingstone appeared as counsel
for the complainant Yes, he was there
in all his dignity, and he didn't seem
bit frightened thatiit was his first
case and that he 'wasfmatched against
one of the Observation-Disclosures lawyers
in the county. He nodded to Prue and
would have done the same to her moth
er had she not justl then been engaged
in whispering to her daughter:
'Prue Johnson, look over there! AS
true as you live your bean pole of Il
young man Is going to take the case
against me! That's another specimen
Of his cheek. You wait, however
When Parsons gets through with him
therell be only grease spot left"
Surprise after surprise was the order
Of the day. The plaintiff really had a
chattel mortgage on the cows. They
had been driven away and sold. In
buying them Mrs. Johnson had taken
the sellers work. Her lawyer argued
that this was customary, but bean
pole" brought in six witnesses to prove
to the contrary. Mrs. Johnson was
made to admit that she was a business
woman and that she had never bought
even chicken without being guaran-
teed. A dozen errors were made in
her case, and before 1t was concluded
Mr.. Parsons was made to look extreme
~ foolish. The jury gave verdict for
the plaintiff, and Prue shed tears be-
meath her veil and realized that she
would see no more of Lincoln No ..
She was in despair when her mother
walked up to the young attorney and
held out her hand, saying:
'Sir, L am a blunt and plain spoken
woman. You are lop shouldered and
slab sided. You are as homely as a
hedgehog in March, but you are talk
er and are certain to make a good law
yer. If l ever have a son-in-law hope
he'll be one of the profession. No,
don't make any excuses. You had 81
right to take the other side. and hold
no grudge against you. If you want
to know how good cheese is made come
out to the farm
Mr.. Livingstone did want to know.
He had always been curious about it.
He took early advantage of her offer,
and at last reports he and Miss Prue
had decided to go south on their we'd
ding tour.