and drooping."

"Has he had any unusual history, any heart agony?"

"None that I ever heard of; nor was he particularly poetic or
imaginative. He does not attempt any business now; but goes and comes
with lawyers, the most of whom now avoid him. He has brothers,
able and accomplished men, and whom he usually avoids. He commenced
business with Giddings, with a brilliant opening, ten years ago."

The calendar was finished, a jury sworn in a case, and the court
adjourned.

How closely the young men watched the proceedings of the court, all
the trials and points made, and the rulings, and how stripped of
mystery seemed the mere practice, as at that time in Ohio it really
was. Wise men had taken the best of the old common law practice, and
with the aid of judicious legislation and intelligent courts, had got
about the best it was capable of.

Bart managed to make himself useful and do himself some good on one
occasion. Ranney had taken a position in a case, on a trial of some
importance, on which the court was apparently against him. Bart had
just gone over with it, in a text-book, and in a moment brought it in,
with the case referred to, and received, as men often do, more credit
than he was entitled to, Ranney carried his point, and could afford to
be generous.

CHAPTER XXXV.

SARTLIFF.

Bart had been introduced to Sartliff, who was an object of universal
curiosity, even where he was best known, and coming out of the
court-room one delicious afternoon, he asked the young students to
walk away from the squabbles of men to more quiet and cleaner scenes.
They took their way out of the town towards a beech forest, whose
tender, orange-tinted, green young leaves were just shaping out, and
relieving the hard skeleton lines of trunks and naked limbs. Passing
the rude and rotting fences, by which rank herbage, young elders and
briars were springing up:

"See," said Sartliff, "how kindly nature comes to cover over the
faults and failures of men. These rotting unsightly 'improvements,'
as we call them, will soon be covered over and hidden with beautiful
foliage."

"With weeds, and nettles, and elders," said Case, contemptuously.

"Weeds and nettles!" repeated Sartliff; "and why weeds and nettles?
Was there ever such arrogance! Man in his boundless conceit and
ignorance, after having ruined his powers, snuffs and picks about, and
finds the use of a few insignificant things, which he pronounces good;
all the r