her suit,
cinching the sympathy of a jury.

Also, they didn't neglect to tell him that probably half the jury would
be women--wives and mothers. And what chance would he have with women
when they was told how he regarded children? He spent a good half of the
time I paid him for in listening to these friendly words. They give Homer
an entirely new slant on our boasted civilization and lowered it a whole
lot in his esteem.

About the only person in the whole valley that wasn't laughing at him and
giving him false sympathy with a sting in its tail was Minna Humphrey.
Homer told her all about the foul conspiracy against his fortune, and how
his life would be blasted by marrying into a family with three outcasts
like he'd been told these was. And what was our courts coming to if their
records could be stained by blackmailers.

And Minna give him the honest sympathy of a woman who had taught school
twelve years, loathed the sight of any human under twenty, and even
considered that the institution of marriage had been greatly overpraised.
Certainly she felt it was not for her; and she could understand Homer's
wanting to escape. She and him would set out and discuss his chances long
after he had ought to of been in bed if he was going to earn his pay.

Minna admitted that things looked dark for him on account of the insane
prejudice that would be against him for his views on children. She said
he couldn't expect anything like a fair trial where these was known even
with a jury of his peers; and it was quite true that probably only five
or six of the jury would be his peers, the rest being women.

Homer told me about these talks--out of working hours, you can bet! How
Minna was the only person round that would stand by anyone in trouble;
how she loathed kids, and even loathed the thought of human marriage.

"Minna is a nice girl," I told him; "but I should think you'd learn not
to pay attention to a woman that talks about children that way. Remember
this other lady talked the same way about 'em before the scandal come
out."

But he was indignant that any one could suspect Minna's child hating
wasn't honest.

"That little girl is pure as a prism!" he says. "When she says she hates
'em, she hates 'em. The other depraved creature was only working on my
better nature."

"Well," I says, "the case does look black; but mebbe you could settle for
a mere five thousand dollars."

"It wouldn't be a mere five thousand dollars,"