Part 19 (1/2)

”Then the poor man will be convicted and David will gain no glory,”

lamented M'ri. ”It means so much to a young lawyer to win his first case.”

The Judge smiled.

”Neither of them needs any sympathy. Miggs ought to have been sent over the road long ago. David's got to have experience before he gains glory.”

”How did you come to take such a case?” asked M'ri, for the Judge was quite exclusive in his acceptance of clients.

”It was David's doings,” said the Judge, with a frown that had a smile lurking behind it.

”Why did he wish you to take the case?” persisted M'ri.

”As near as I can make out,” replied the Judge, with a slight softening of his grim features, ”it was because Miggs' wife takes in was.h.i.+ng when Miggs is celebrating.”

M'ri walked quickly to the window, murmuring some unintelligible sound of endearment.

On the day of the summing-up at the trial the court room was crowded.

There were the habitual court hangers on, David's country friends _en ma.s.se_, a large filling in at the back of the representatives of the highways and byways, a.s.sociates of the popular wrongdoer, and the legal lore of the town, with the good-humored patronage usually bestowed by the profession on the newcomer to their ranks.

As the Judge had said, his client was conceded to be slated for conviction. If he had made the argument himself he would have made it in his usual cool, well-poised manner. But David, although he knew Miggs to be a veteran of the toughs, felt sure of his innocence in this case, and he was determined to battle for him, not for the sake of justice alone, but for the sake of the tired-looking washerwoman he had seen bending over the tubs. This was an occupation she had to resort to only in her husband's times of indulgence, for he was a wage earner in his days of soberness.

When David arose to speak it seemed to the people a.s.sembled that the coil of evidence, as reviewed by the prosecutor in his argument, was drawn too closely for any power to extricate the victim.

At the first words of the young lawyer, uttered in a voice of winning mellowness, the public forgot the facts in the case. Swayed by the charm of David's personality, a current of new-born sympathy for the prisoner ran through the court room.

David came up close to the jury and, as he addressed them, he seemed to be oblivious of the presence of any one else in the room. It was as though he were telling them, his friends, something he alone knew, and that he was sure of their belief in his statements.

”For all the world,” thought M'ri, listening, ”as he used to tell stories when he was a boy. He'd fairly make you believe they were true.”

To be sure the jury were all his friends; they had known him when he was little ”barefoot Dave Dunne.” Still, they were captivated by this new oratory, warm, vivid, and inspiring, delivered to the accompaniment of dulcet and seductive tones that transported them into an enchanted world. Their senses were stirred in the same way they would be if a flag were unfurled.

”Sounds kind o' like orgin music,” whispered Miss Rhody.

Yet underneath the eloquence was a logical simplicity, a keen sifting of facts, the exposure of flaws in the circ.u.mstantial evidence. There was a force back of what he said like the force back of the projectile. About the form of the hardened sinner, Miggs, David drew a circle of innocence that no one ventured to cross. Simply, convincingly, and concisely he summed up, with a forceful appeal to their intelligence, their honor, and their justice.

The reply by the a.s.sistant to the prosecutor was perfunctory and ineffective. The charge of the judge was neutral. The jury left the room, and were out eight and one-quarter minutes. As they filed in, the foreman sent a triumphant telepathic message to David before he quietly drawled out:

”Not guilty, yer Honor.”

The first movement was from Mrs. Miggs. And she came straight to David, not to the jury.

”David,” said the Judge, who had cleared his throat desperately and wiped his gla.s.ses carefully, at the look in the eyes of the young lawyer when they had rested on the defendant's wife, ”hereafter our office will be the refuge for all the riffraff in the country.”

This was his only comment, but the Judge did not hesitate to turn over any case to him thereafter.

When David had added a few more victories to his first one, Jud made one of his periodical diversions by an offense against the law which was far more serious in nature than his previous misdeeds had been.

M'ri came out to the farm to discuss the matter.

”Barnabas, Martin thinks you had better let the law take its course this time. He says it's the only procedure left untried to reform Jud.