ident, or in a movement of impatience, he brought his bent arm against
the pile with such force, that he sent every book, and there must have
been more than twenty of them, over the desk, right on to the head and
shoulders of his choleric client, Mr. Addison, who was sitting
immediately beneath, on the solicitors' bench.

Down went the books with a crash and a bang, and, carried away by their
weight, down went Mr. Addison on to his nose among them--a contingency
that Fiddlestick, Q.C., by-the-way, had not foreseen, for he had
overlooked the fact of his client's vicinity.

The Judge made an awful face, and then, realising the ludicrous nature of
the scene, his features relaxed into a smile. But Mr. Addison did not
smile. He bounded up off the floor, books slipping off his back in every
direction, and, holding his nose (which was injured) with one hand, came
skipping right at his learned adviser.

"You did it on purpose!" he almost shouted, quite forgetting where he
was; "just let me get at him, I'll have his wig off!" and then, without
waiting for any more, the entire audience burst out into a roar of
laughter, which, however, unseemly, was perfectly reasonable; during
which Mr. Fiddlestick could be seen apologising in dumb show, with a
bland smile upon his countenance, while Mr. News and Mr. Roscoe between
them dragged the outraged Addison to his seat, and proffered him
handkerchiefs to wipe his bleeding nose.

James saw the whole thing, and forgetting his position, laughed too; and,
for some mysterious reason, with the laugh his nervousness passed away.

The usher shouted "Silence!" with tremendous energy, and before the sound
had died away James was addressing the Court in a clear and vigorous
voice, conscious that he was a thorough master of his case, and the words
to state it in would not fail him. Fiddlestick, Q.C., had saved him!

"May it please your Lordship," he began, "the details of this case are of
as remarkable an order as any that to my knowledge have been brought
before the Court. The plaintiff, Eustace Meeson, is the sole next-of-kin
of Jonathan Meeson, Esquire, the late head of the well known Birmingham
publishing firm of Meeson, Addison, and Roscoe. Under a will, bearing
date the 8th of May, 1880, the plaintiff was left sole heir to the great
wealth of his uncle--that is, with the exception of some legacies. Under
a second will, now relied on by the defendants, and dated the 10th
November, 1885, th