Evening star., 1912-09-29
SUNDAY MAGAZINE FOR SEPTEMBER 2s 1912
THE MAJESTY OF THE LAWS
Continued from page 4

Continued from page
torney's eyes and his voice was husky with
emotion when he answered, "My personal
inclination, your Honor, would be to make
a strong plea for 1eniency in the case of this
accused; but the law is no respecter of per-
sons, and l cannot allow my personal feel
ings to enter into this matter. | am sorry
to say that the accused only yesterday COM
pleted a sentence of thirty days in county
Jail in Illinois for the violation of one of the
statutes of that sister State. want to say,
however, that have only the admission of
the accused himself that this is the case, as
a foundation for my statement.
3Do you wish to deny it?' asked the Judge
of Hopkins.
NO. said Hopkins, Il cannot deny it.
"In that case," said his Honor, "since you
appear to be persistent and incorrigible
1awbreaker, | feel it incumbent to inf1ict
upon you the heaviest sentence that the law
allows. Thirty days in the county jail
XIELL, that about finished Hopkins. OF
" course it lost him his job. There was
no telling how many times more he'd 60 to
jail before he succeeded in reaching James
vile or Baraboo, whichever it was, nor what
would happen to him after he got there. The
trustees wrote him regretfully at the Jail that
they were obliged to cancel his appointment.
Hopkins served out his sentence and made
his way back furtively, fearsomely, silently,
to Chicago on night train. Both the
jails in which he had served time were
wretched, drafty affairs, and Hopkins caught
cold, and, what with that and disappoint-
ment over the loss of his job and remorse
over what the Wisconsin Judge had said
about his being persistent lawbreaker, 1t S
no wonder he came down with pneumonia!
When he got about well, the doctor ad
vised him to 60 South for better weather un-
til he was strong again, and when he found
out that there was no financial obstacle in
the way of his doing this (Hopkins had a
little independent income) he was puzzled
to account for the reluctance with which the
invalid greeted the suggestion. Most people
were glad of an excuse for getting out OF
Chicago in March.
The fact was that Hopkins had spent
most of his convalescence at the hospital
studying up the Illinois laws; SO that now he
felt he could venture about in tolerable
safety But, besides his morbid dread of
travelling, he simply felt too weak to scruti-
nize the entire statutory activity of another
State, as he would have to do before he could
settle down happily within its borders.
One of the nurses had unconSc1ouSly made
matters worse by telling him that out in
Arizona, where she had been nursing tuber
culous patient, it was against the law to die
on the front porch, and that in Georgia,
where she came from, it was a misdemeanor
to wear divided skirt for horseback riding.
Of course Hopkins didn't want to die on a
front porch in Phoenix nor wear divided
skirt in Atlanta; but the information wor
ried him.
He said something about it to the doctor
at last, and thereby convinced him that his
case was really serious So he put Hopkins
in charge of nurse and packed him off to
place near Sulphur Springs in Alabama,
where he could be cared for by another doc
tor who was friend of his He gave his
friend hint that Hopkins was subject to
delusions about laws and statute books, and
warned him to be on his guard. Of course he
was mistaken. Hopkins was as sane as you
or |.
THE trip didn't agree with him very well,
1 and for several days after he arrived
he had to stay in bed. After the hint his new
doctor had received, of course Hopkins
frantic requests for copy of the Revised
N