The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-05-09

moneyed might the means abundantly to wear out the right while the "madman from Shropshire" and crazy little Miss Elite have their counterparts today in all lands In the wrecks worn out by the laws delays.
 T was called Bleak House, but it be-
 lied it's name if ever a house did 4 unless it were that an extraordinary east wind seemed to blow on it's master John Jarndyce, whenever any mention was made of the court of chaneery and the famous suit of Jarndyce and Jarndyee. which had been before that great and sol- emn court for generations till no man liv- ing knew what it was about.
 Innumerable children had been born into the cause. Innumerable old people had died out of it. Families had inherited legendary curses with 1t, quite against their desires Little wards of chancery had grown into grandmothers and their grandchildren had become wards in their turn since that past and gone Jarndyee had made his great will. A Jarndyce had blown out his brains in despair and there were hardly any Jarndyees left on earth; but the suit fourlshed in immortal
 
 John Jarndyce had kept himself as free from the curse as the law would let him. He declined to read any of the thousands of documents that were ground out by the dronlng, never-ceasing mill The mere mention of a lawyer drove him to poke the fire frantically with wry face: after which relief he smiled whimsically and blamed his display of i'll temper on that marvellous east wind.
 One day he stood in the ruddy glow of his hall, with the hrelight shining on his tall, sturdy form, on his silver-gray hair, and better than all, on his bright, quick face, with its handsome, cheery smile. He had entered the suit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce voluntarily for once and he was waiting now for something to come out of that gloomy court that was not sad and hopeless. The something was alighting just then from carriage. He held out his arms and something was folded in them-some- thing with such rich golden hair, such soft blue eyes and so innocent and trust ing young facel
 Something was a ward in chancery- Ada Clare, penniless cousin of John Jarndyce, whom he had determined to rescue from the blight that had fallen on so many. equally young and innocent
 With her there came into Bleak House another distant cousin, Richard Carstone, handsome, ingenious youth of 19, two years older than Ada who also was a penness ward in chancery and also like Ada, a helpless party to the great suit T.l,,,
 hise hatred of the court as to appeal in their behalf to be appointed their guar dian, and the court had permitted it kind 1y after deliberating conscentiously on the costs to be assessed for the proceed ing.
 Hospitable Bleak House opened it's doors to another who was poor and alone It took in Esther Summerson when she was 20 and had come out of the boarding school whither John Jarndyce, S. C. past and gone had broken their hearts over reams of law papers. fighting blind ma chinery of court till grounds and house were ghostly with tragedy and misery, and Bleak House was indeed well named as monument to the famous suit
 Before long they called Esther their little old woman who swept all the cob webs out of the sky-their Dame Burden and all the other pet names they could devise How often she thought In her happiness of her sad youth with her aunt, Mrs. Barbara, who had told her once that her mother was a disgrace and that it would have been better for her had she never have beenl The words had dark ened all her little youth and weighed her soul down with the bangs of an unknown sin, so that she confded to her dolly that she would do her best to repair the fault that she must have committedl
 John Jarndyce had come out of nowhere when her handsome, resolute aunt died. He never told her what her story was, If indeed, he knew it himself. Sometimes Esther caught herself wishing and won dering wistfully; but she always checked herself by giving her little bunch of housekeeping keys a shake and busying herself about her duties.
 She did not know that she was beautiful and she thought herself not bit clever. That all at Bleak House should fondle her and ask her advice and admire her only made her grateful to them for their af- fectionate goodness to poor girl So she went on her sunny way, unconscious of her charm and sweetness are the flowers and the birds.
 That sunshine of hers fell even into the cobwebbed mysteries of chancery and frightened the dark and noisome alley where the dark and noisome MT krook had his dark and noisome being amidst his rags and bones and old iron and bottles and wastel paper.
 So much of the latter consisted Of old law books and documents that The filthy old shop had quite the air of being a Indeed. people called the place Chan eery" and MT. Brook was wont to call himself the brother of the lord chancel- Tor, saying grimly that there were no great odds between them, since they both had liking for rust and must and cob webs and both grubbed on in the mudde of old refuse.
 His dingy habitation had another dis tinction in having lodger the most famous figure in chancery-little Mss F1ite-who attended the court every day with a little reticule full of papers No hody remembered what her case had been and the lawyers and the chancellor had become so accustomed to her that they