he hospitably thrust
forward a square box filled with sawdust. It was plain he labored under
the impression that the judge's call was of an unprofessional character.

"A little matter of business brings me here, sir," began the judge,
with a swelling chest and mellow accents. "No, sir, I'll not be
seated--another time I'll share your leisure if I may--now I am in some
haste to look up a title for my client, Mr. Norton."

"What Norton?" asked Mr. Saul, when he had somewhat recovered from the
effect of this announcement.

"Mr. Charles Norton, of Thicket Point," said the judge.

"I reckon you mean that timber tract of old Joe Quaid's." Mr. Saul
viewed the judge's ruinous exterior with a glance of respectful awe,
for clearly a man who could triumph over such a handicap must possess
uncommon merit of some sort. "So you're looking after Charley Norton's
business for him, are you?" he added.

"He's a client of mine. We have mutual friends, sir--I refer to Miss
Malroy," the judge vouchsafed to explain.

"You're naming our best people, sir, when you name the Malroys and the
Nortons; they are pretty much in a class by themselves," said Mr. Saul,
whose awe of the judge was momentarily increasing.

"I don't underestimate the value of a social endorsement, sir, but
I've never stood on that," observed the judge. "I've come amongst you
unheralded, but I expect you to find me out. Now, sir, if you'll be good
enough, I'll glance at the record."

Mr. Saul scrambled up out of the depths of his chair and exerted himself
in the judge's behalf.

"This is what you want, sir. Better take the ledger to the window, the
light in here ain't much." He drew forward a chair as he spoke, and
the judge, seating himself, began to polish his spectacles with great
deliberation. He felt that he had reached a crisis in his career, and
was disposed to linger over the hope that was springing up in his heart.

"How does the docket for the next term of court stand?" he inquired.

"Pretty fair, sir," said Mr. Saul.

"Any litigation of unusual interest in prospect?" The judge was fitting
his glasses to the generous arch of his nose, a feature which nicely
indexed its owner's habits.

"No, sir, just the ordinary run of cases."

"I hoped to hear you say different."

"You've set on the bench, sir?" suggested Mr. Saul.

"In one of the eastern counties, but my inclination has never been
toward the judiciary. My temperament, sir, is distinctly aggres