Grand Forks herald., 1916-12-30
Copyright, 1915. by The Robbs-
Merrill Co..
CHAPTER V.
Rodney Smiled.

Rodney Smiled.
The next day, Rose took two steps
toward making herself her husbands S
intellectual companion.
From a university catalog she pick
ed out the names Of half a dozen ele-
mentary textbooks on law. and then
went to bookstore and bought them
She had taken her determination
during the endless waking hours OF
the night: she was going to study law
study it with all her might!
The other step was to go and hear
Rodney's argument in court that day
This was not so easy. She didn't know
what court he was appearing before,
nor how to get in; and she wasn't
willing to ask him. But by dint OF
patient telephoning, she found out
what she needed to know.
She was successful in her project
of slipping into the rear of the court
roonl-up on the eighth floor Of the
Federal building-without attracting
her husbands attention: and for two
hours and a half she listened, with
mingled feelings, to his argument. a
good part of the time she was occu-
pied in fighting off, f1ercely, an almost
overwhelming drowsiness. The court
from the skylight pressed down hel
eyelids. And then. there was no use
pretending that she could follow hel
husbands reasoning. Listening to !,
had something the same effect upon
her as watching some enormous, COM
plicated, SIN mooth-runn!ng mass Of ma
chinery. She was conscious OF the
power Of it. though ignorant of what
made it go, and Of what it was ac'
complishing.
The three stolid figures behind the
high mahogany bench seemed to be
following it attentively, though they
irritated her bitterly. sometimes, by
indulging in whispered conversations
Toward the end, though. as Rodney
opened the last phase of his argu'
man with a thick neck and a square
head---hunched forward and inter
rupted him with a question: evidently
penetrating one. for the man sitting
across the table from Rodney looked
up and grinned. and inter.ected re-
mark of his own.
II simply followed the cases cited
In Aldrich on Quasi Contracts" he
sad. "T have copy of the work
here, which I'd be glad to submit to
the court
Rose easped. 1t was his own bool
they were oroting against him!
~ nroncse to show" said Rodney,
"if the court please, that an apso.
'ute'y vital distinction is to be made
between the cases cited in the section
my honorable opronent refers to, and
the case before the court"
Then the other Judges smoke up
They knew the cases, It appeared, and
didn't want to look at the book: but
1t was clear that they were skeptica
about the distinction. For five min
'utes the formal argument was lost ir
swift-fashing phrases in which every.
hodv took mart. Rodney was de-
Tending himself against them all. And
then suddenly it was over. The judges
settled back again, the argument went
on.
At half-past four. the Oldest judge.
who sat in tho middle. interrupted
aea,n to tell Rodney with what seem
ed to Rose hrutally bad manners,
what time it was
eff you can finish your argument in
fifteen minutes, Mr.. Aldrich. well
hear you out. II It's going to take
longer than that, the court will ad
:ourn till tomorrow morning"
II don't think I shall want more
than fifteen minutes" said Rodney
and he went on again.
And. presently. he Just stopped
talking and began stacking up his
notes. The oldest Judge mum bled
something. everybody stood up, and
the three stiff formidable figures filed
cut by side door. 1t was all over.
But nothing had happened!
Pose had been looking forward. you
see, to a driving finish; to a dramatic
sumn,onsne OF reserves. a mighty OD
the umpire at hall game, to a de-
cision. She had expected to leave the
courtroom in the blissful knowledge
of Rodnev's victory or the acceptance
of his defeat. In her surprise over
the failure of this climax to materi-
alize, she almost neglected to make
her escape before he discovered her
there.
One practical advantage she had
gained out Of what was. on the whole,
a rather unsa tisfactory afternoon.
When she had gone home and chang
ed into the sort of frock she thought
he'd like and come downstairs In
answer to his shouted greeting from
the lower hall. she didn't say, as 9TH
erwise she would have done. How
VIM"
In the light Of her newly acquir-
ed knowledge she could see how a
question OF that sort would irritate
him. Instead Of that. she said: "You
dear old boy. how dos-tired you must
be! How do you think it went? Do
you think YOU impressed them? I bet
you did"
And. not having been rubbed the
wrong way by a foolish question, he
held her off with both hands for a
moment, then hugTed her up and told
her sha was n trump. IT had a sort
of uneasy feeling" he confessed. that
after last ni"ht-the way I threw you
tragic. ] might have known 1 could
count on you. Lord! hut it's good to
have you like this! Is there anywhere
we have got to go? Or can We just
stay home?
He didn't want to founder through
an emotional morass. YOU see. A firm.
surface. that was
what for everyday use. he wanted her
to provide with him-E~htly given
casusI caresses that cou'd he accented
with a smile-pleasa rtness. n conf
dent security that she wouldn't he
"+rag.c." A~d to tn" assunn+ior that
she cou'dn't walk hes'ae hin, on the
ra'n nath of hts life it -'as lust and
sers'h'e. But it wasn't good enough
for Pose.
So the ve~y rext moving she strin-
ned tho cover oTF tha FIRST of the law
hooks she had bought and really went
To work. She hit down an9r'ly the
vawns that hl'rded her eyes with
tears. she made dasperate effor+s TO
foe her MIND trto orapplinr with the
a~d'pas sn~cees'or of meaningless
ra9es so-aad o"t before he~ to n,d
a ee~rr - ntear r'ro eorc ewhAre IN II
that would bring the dead rerhiase to
life !.