ason of his visit; and gradually, by tendering
little services, as fetching an umbrella when it rained, hastening for a
book of reference if called for, searching out an important witness, and
probably by a most frequent and respectful use of the title "my lord,"
instead of the humble "your worship," he succeeded in so ingratiating
himself with the judge that, without exactly occupying any precise
station, or having any regular employment, he became in some sort
a recognized appendage, a kind of "unpaid attache to the court" of
Kilbeggan.

My father was one of those persons who usually ask only a "lift" from
Fortune, and do not require to be continually aided by her. From being
the humble attendant on the judge, he soon succeeded to being his
privy councillor; supplying a hundred little secret details of the
neighborhood and its local failings, which usually gave Mr. Ball's
decisions on the bench an air approaching inspiration, so full were they
of a knowledge of individual life. As confidence ripened, my father
was employed in reading out to the judge of an evening the various
depositions of witnesses, the informations laid, and the affidavits
sworn,--opportunities from which he did not neglect to derive the full
advantage; for while he usually accompanied the written document with a
running commentary of his own to Mr. Ball, he also contrived to let the
suitor feel how great was his knowledge of the case, and what a powerful
influence behind the scenes he wielded over the fortunes of the cause;
insomuch that it became soon well known that he who had Con Cregan on
his side was better off than with the whole Bench of country magistrates
disposed to favor him.

My father's prudence did not desert him in these trying circumstances.
Without any historical knowledge of the matter, he knew by a species of
instinct that pride was the wreck of most men, and that, to wield real,
substantial power, it is often necessary to assume a garb of apparent
inefficiency and incapacity. To this end, the greater the influence he
possessed, the humbler did he affect to be; disclaiming everything like
power, he got credit for possessing a far greater share than he ever
really enjoyed.

That the stream of justice did not run perfectly pure and clear,
however, may not be a matter of surprise; for how many rocks, and
shoals, and quicksands, are there in the channel! and certainly my
father was a dangerous hand at the wheel. Litigation, it mu