Charlevoix county herald., 1909-05-01
An Attorneys Coup.
fOriginal.l

TO break her fatnerS VIII. lie mao
been bedridden for some years before
his death. his sister had taken care Of
him. and he has eft her all his prop
erty on her verbal promise that she
would take care OF his daughter. his
natural heir. 1t was claimed that the
old man had been incompetent to make
will and that his sister had used
undue influence to make him do so In
her favor. At any rate. she had but
meagerly fulfilled her promise to pro
vide for the girl who should have In.
herited.
The attorney for the plaintiff was
physically and mentally a splendid
man; the attorney for the defendant
had a bad case and resorted to petit
gogging. The girl from whose claim he
was defending his client sat motionless.
with her face toward the jury. Her
countenance wore an expression OF
habitual sadness.
AS the case proceeded the attorney
opposing her case seemed to be dis
turbed over the effect her personality
was having on the jury. There was
little available evidence to prove her
claim. and he had no doubt but for
this personal charm that he would win
his case. Finally he determined to take
advantage Of statement made by his
antagonist to forcstall this effect.
Its. impossible" said the girls ad.
vocate, Nyhat my client should have
tseen all tfEft was going on in that
household for the reason
IF your client" interrupted the
counsel for the defense. could not see
what was going on In that household
with eyes which she Is now endeavor.
ing to win the jury to her side. then
no pair Of optics can see anything"
His opponent stood motionless. with
his eye fixed upon the pettifogger,
while the seconds were being licked
away. He neither spoke nor gave sign
that he intended to speak. The silence
Of the courtroom was unbrolen. Judge,
Jury. even the clerk Of the court, who
had been driving pen. looked ut him
fixedly. The thrust had Jared upon
their sensibilities. and they watched
intently the lips from which defense
was expected. The girl sat apparently
unmoved.
At last her defender relinquished his
statuesque rigidity and. after slowly
raising his right hand in gesture. be-
gan to speak In voice which. had not
the courtroom been perfectly still.
would have been inaudible.
'"There are eyes," he said. that will
| ytcfo IN
cause when turned in upon themselves
they can see no good. There are eyes
that can see no evil because introspec-
ton reveals only purity. But. whether
they see good or evil. they are, blessed
with the power Of sight. When their
eyes are opened In the morning they
may revel In beautiful world slowly
emerging from the night shadow. For
them the dawn unveils the plains. the
valleys. the hills or the mountains.
They may see the waves of ocean roll
ing with their green concave and
white, shaggy names In upon the
sands. breaking the sunshine into myr-
lads Of sparkling gems.
But there Is more. far more than
this. to delight them-the forms and
faces of those they love. The lover
may look upon the features of her who.
in his eyes ut least. is always beauti-
full The mother may see her newborn
babe lying beside her and experience
therein the great JOY of her life. The
young may look with reverent affec-
ton on those who have begotten them.
These and myriads Of other objects are
the heritage of those who have been
blessed with sight,
The speaker paused, then continued
In still more impressive tone:
''But what shall we say Of those con-
demned to live In perpetual darkness?
For them nature has no pictures They
may feel the pressure of a hand, but
can see no smile Of welcome nor the
lovelight dart from the eyes of those
they love. They are prisoners In a
dungeon"
The speaker paused again. Every
eye except that Of the young girl whose
case was being tried was fixed upon
her defender. Hers were fixed straight
before her. Lowering his voice almost
to whisper. her advocate added:
Gentlemen Of the jury, my client Is
blind"
1t was some time before the sounds
incident to a courtroom recommended.
When they did they served for back.
ground to the monotonous reading by
the judge Of his charge to the jury.
No one of the jurymen listened to 1t,
for the mind Of every one Of the
twelve was made up. The pettifogger
had furnished the counsel for the plain
tiff with a lance which the latter had
hurled back. SCATTERING the defendants
case. When the reading had been fin.
ished the foreman Of the jury announc.
ed that they could come to verdict
without leaving their seq. he then
announced that they HAD found for the
plaintiff.
There was a demonstration in the
courtroom which the judge was unable
to check. The girls attorney told her