The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-05-09

bicted their type In Dotheboys Hall. In
q he latter case he succeeded, for the
Yorkshire schools went out OF exist
knce as if swept away by broom.
But the manufacture of legal red tape
survived the brilliant arraignment in
Bleak House and civil law still gives,
10 Dick ems said then. "to ,monied might,
he means abundantIy to wear out the
aght,s while the madam from Shrop-
hire and crazy little Miss Elite have
.heirco unterparts today in all lands In
he wrecks worn outsby the laws de-
avs:
It was called Bleak House; but II be-
lied its name IL ever house did. Yum
less 1t were that an extraordinary east
wind seemed to blow on its MASTER.
John Jarndyce. whenever any mention
was made OF the Court Of Chancery
and the famous suit Of Jarndyce versus
rarndyce. which haC been before that
great and solemn court for generations
TIL no man living knew what 1t was
about.
Innumerable children had been born
Into the cause Innumerable old peo-
pie had died cut of 1t. Families had
Inherited legendary curses with 1T.
quite against their desires. Little wards
Of .Chancery had grown into grand
mothers and their grandchildren had
become wards in their turn since that
past and gone Jarndyce had made his
great will A Jarndyce had blown out
his brains In despair and there were
hardly any JarndycesJ left on earth;s
but the suit fourished in mortal hope
lessness before the sacred court.
John Jarndyee had kept himself as
free from the curse as the law would
let him. He declined to read any Of
khe thousands of documents that were
ground out by the droring. never-ceas-
Ing mill. The mere mention of law
yer drove him to poke the fire fran
kfcaliy with wry face; after which
relief he smiled whfmsically and blam-
ed his display Of i'll temper on That
marvellous east wind.
One day he stood in the ruddy glow
pf his half. with the firelight shining
On his tall. sturdy form. on his sill
kersgray hair. and better than all. on
bis bright, quick face. with its hand
4 some, CHEEKY smile. He had entered
khe suit of Jarndyce and Jarndyee vol
unfairly for once and he was waiting
how for something to come out OF that
Eioomy court that was not sad and
hopeless.
The something was alighting just
then from a carriage. He held out his
arms and something was folded in them
with such rich golden
hair, such soft blue eyes and SO inno-
tent and trusting young face!
Something was a Ward in Chancery
ada Glare, a penniless cousin OF John
Farndyce, whom he had determined. to
rescue from the blight that had fallen
pn SO many, equally young and>fnno-
cent
With her there came into Bleak
House another distant cousin, Richard
Carstone, q handsome, ingenious youth
Of 10, two years older than Ada, who
also was a penniless Ward in Cham
Gerry and also like Ada, helpless par
III to the great suit John Jarndyces
had so far crushed down HIS hatred
81 the Court as to appeaiin their be-
half to be appointed their guardian.
and the Court had permitted 1t kindly
hitter celebrating conscientiously on
the costs to be assessed for the pro-
ceeding.
HospitabIe Bleak House opened. its
doors to another who was poor and
alone II took in Esther Surnmerson
when she was 90 and had come out
bf the boarding school whittier John
Jarndyce had sent her six years before.
Now nobody would have thought that
this could ever have been the Bleak
House In which old Jarndyce past and
gone had broken their hearts over
reams of law papers, fighting the Blind
machinery OF the Court till grounds
and house were ghostly with tragedy
and misery, and BLEAK House" was,
indeed, well named as a monument to
the famous suit.
Before long they called Esther their
little old woman who swept all the
cobwebs 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 moth
er was disgrace and that It would
have been better for her had she never
been born! The words had darkened
all her little youth and weighed her
soul down with the pangs of an un-
known sin, so that she confided to her
dolly that she would do her best to re-
pair the fault that she must have COM
lnfttedl
John Jarndyce had come out OF no
where when her handsome, resolute
aunt died. He never told her what her
story was. If, indeed, he knew 1t HIM
self. Sometimes Esther caught herself
wishing and wondering 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 beau
tifui and she thought herself not a
BIT clever That all at Bleak House
should fondle her and ask her advice
and admire her only made her grateful
10 them for their affectionate goodness
to poor girl. So she went on her
sunny way, as unconscious of her
charm and sweetness as are the flow
srs 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 Mr.
Krook had his dark and noisome be-
ing amidst his rags and bones and old
iron and bottles and waste paper.
So much OF the latter consisted of
old law books and documents that the
hlthy old shop had quite the arr of
being dirty hanger-on and relative OF
the court. Indeed. people called the
place "Chancery" ana Mr.. Krook was
wont to call himself the brother of the
Lord Chancellor, saying grimly that
there were no great odds between
them, since they both had liking for
rust and must and cobwebs and both
Rrubbed on In the muddle of old re-
fuse. -
His dingy habitation lad another dis
kinction in having as a lodger the most
famous figure in Chaneery--little Miss
Flite-who attended the court every
day with a little reticule full of pa
pers Nobody remeub cred. what her
baae had been. and the lawyers and
the Chancellor had become so accus-
toned TO her that they did not even
smile any more, when she made her
kaIl,v curtesY to the learned courf and