en off.

A lawless set of young men and boys were Ward's agents, although his
connection with them was never made very apparent, and had committed
various depredations upon the old man; until one night they made a
raid upon his premises, cut down several fruit-trees, filled up his
spring, tore down his old barn, and committed various acts of trespass
of a grave character. It would seem as if some intelligence controlled
their movements; no act criminal by the statutes of Ohio had been
committed, and, so far as was suspected, none but those under age had
been concerned in the affair.

Poor old Cole, an object of derision, was barely within common
sympathy; and living remote, few knew of, and fewer cared for his
misfortunes. He applied for advice to Bart, who was indignant at the
recital, and entered upon an investigation of the outrage with great
energy. He was satisfied that the fathers of the trespassers could not
be held for their acts, that no breach of the criminal laws had been
committed; but that the boys themselves could be made liable in an
action, and that on failure to pay the judgment, they could themselves
be taken in execution and committed to jail. He at once commenced
a suit for the trespass before a magistrate, against all whom he
suspected.

The commencement of the suit caused greater excitement then the
perpetration of the outrage. Many of the young men belonged to
respectable families, while many were old offenders, who had been
permitted to escape for fear of provoking graver misdemeanors. It was
known that Bart had taken up the case, and there was a feeling that he
had at least the courage to encounter the dangerous wrath of the young
scamps; the only ground of apprehension was that he had mistaken the
law. The popular impression was that an action could not be maintained
against minors.

On the return-day of the summons Barton appeared, and demanded a jury,
then allowable, and the time for trial was fixed for the fifth day
afterwards.

In that day, with the exception of one or two small lawyers at
Chardon, and Ford at Burton, there were none within twenty-five
miles of Newbury, and the legal field was gleaned in the magistrates'
courts, as in all new countries, by pettifoggers, of whom nearly every
township was made luminous with one. Of these, the acknowledged head
was Brace. In ordinary life he was a very good sort of a man, not
without capacity, but conceited, obstinate, and opinionated;