ing in his breast, the man who knew how to
approach his subject and the man who did not, the man who buttonholed
everybody and was diffuse and hopeful, and the man who was helpless
before the task he had undertaken. He had never, however, seen anything
like the De Willoughby claimants--big Tom telling his straightforward
story with his unsanguine air, the attractive youngster adding detail
with simple directness, and the girl, Sheba, her roe's eyes dilated with
eager interest hanging upon their every word.

"It is one of the best stories I've heard," he said to Rutherford, on
their way back. "But it's a big claim--it's a huge claim, and the
Government is beginning to get restive."

"But don't you think they'll get it through?" exclaimed Judge Rutherford.
"Ain't they _bound_ to get it? It's the Lord's truth--every word they
speak--the Lord's truth!"

"Yes," answered Farquhar, "that's how it struck me; but, as a rule, it
isn't the Lord's truth that carries a big claim through."

He broke into a short laugh, as if at an inward realisation of the aspect
of the situation.

"They are as straightforward as a lot of children," he said. "They have
nothing to hide, and they wouldn't know how to hide it if they had. It
would be rather a joke if----" And he laughed again.

"If what?" asked Rutherford.

"Ah, well! if that very fact was the thing which carried them through,"
his laugh ending in a shrewd smile.

This carried the ingenuous mind of his companion beyond its depth.

"I don't see where the joke would come in," he said, rather ruefully. "I
should have thought nothing else would do it for them."

Farquhar slapped him on the shoulder.

"So you would," he said. "That's why you are the best advocate they could
have. You are all woven out of the same cloth. You stand by them--and so
will I."

Judge Rutherford seized his hand and shook it with affectionately ardent
pumpings.

"That's what I wanted to make sure of," he said. "I'm going to work at
this thing, and I want a man to help me who knows the ropes. Lord, how I
should like to go back to Hamlin and tell Jenny and the boys that I'd put
Tom through."

And as they walked up the enclosed road to the Capitol he devoted himself
to describing anew Big Tom's virtue, popularity, and witticisms.

* * * * *

For weeks Talbot's Cross-roads found itself provided with a conversational
topic of absorbing interest. Ethan Cronan