"It was a safe thing for him to do for he never took a case in which
justice was not clearly on his side," Samson writes. "If he had been
deceived as to the merits of a case he would drop it. With the sword
of justice in his hand he was invincible."

* * * * *

First he put the thing to be weighed on the scale fully and fairly. Then,
one by one, he put the units of gravity on the other side so that the
court and jury saw the turning of the balance.

He covered the point at issue with a few words "every one of which drew
blood," to quote a phrase from the diary. He showed that the validity of
such claims rested wholly on the character of the man who made them,
especially when they were opposed to the testimony of people whose
honesty had been questioned only by that man.

"Now as to the secretary," said Mr. Lincoln, "I honestly regret that he
has disagreed with himself. A young man ought not to disagree with
himself as to the truth and especially when he contradicts the oath of
witnesses whom we have no reason to discredit. I want to be kind to him
on account of his youth. He reminds me of the young man who hired out to
a Captain in Gloucester and shipped for the China coast and learned
presently that he was on a pirate vessel. He had been a young man of good
intentions but he had to turn to and help the business along. When the
ship was captured he said:

"I didn't want to be a pirate, but there was only one kind o' politics on
that ship and the majority was so large I thought that the vote might as
well be unanimous. At first I was in favor of reform but the walkin' was
that bad I had to decide between a harp and a cutlass.'

"This parable serves to illustrate the history of most young men who fall
into bad company. The walking becomes more or less bad for them. They get
into the bondage of Fear. We know not how it may have influenced the
action of Cap'n Davis's First Mate. Probably since the hard times began,
the walking has looked bad to him but still there was walking. I am sorry
it must be said that there was walking and I hope that he will now make
some use of it."

He did and in time confessed to Samson Traylor that Mr. Lincoln's
reproach had been the saving of him. A judgment was rendered in favor of
the plaintiffs for the full amount of their claim with costs. The
character of Lionel Davis had been sufficiently revealed. Even the
credulous Mrs. Kelso turned against him. Mr