Mrs. Fisher as your responsible
legal guardians--if that is your desire."

"Can this be done?" asked Mrs. Fisher.

"It's been done before, time and again. The State is concerned primarily
with the welfare of the child; children have been legally removed from
natural but unsuitable parents, you know." He looked distressed for a
moment and then went on, "The will of the deceased is respected, but the
law recognizes that it is the living with which it must be primarily
concerned, that mistakes can be made, and that such errors in judgment
must be rectified in the name of the public weal."

"I've been--" started James but Attorney Waterman interrupted him:

"We'll accept the service of your writ, Mr. Manison." And to James after
the man had departed: "Never give the opposition an inkling of what you
have in mind--and always treat anybody who is not in your retainer as
opposition."

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The case of Brennan vs. Holden opened in the emptied court room of Judge
Norman L. Carter, with a couple of bored members of the press wishing
they were elsewhere. For the first two hours, it was no more than
formalized outlining of the whole situation.

The plaintiff identified himself, testified that he was indeed the legal
guardian of the minor James Quincy Holden, entered a transcript of the
will in evidence, and then went on to make his case. He had provided
a home atmosphere that was, to the best of his knowledge, the type of
home atmosphere that would have been highly pleasing to the deceased
parents--especially in view of the fact that this home was one and the
same house as theirs and that little had been changed. He was supported
by the Mitchells. It all went off in the slow, cumbersome dry phraseology
of the legal profession and the sum and substance of two hours of
back-and-forth question-and-answer was to establish the fact that Paul
Brennan had provided a suitable home for the minor, James Quincy Holden,
and that the minor James Quincy Holden had refused to live in it and had
indeed demonstrated his objections by repeatedly absenting himself
wilfully and with premeditation.

The next half hour covered a blow-by-blow account of Paul Brennan's
efforts to have the minor restored to him. The attorneys for both sides
were alert. Brennan's counsel did not even object when Waterman paved the
way to show why James Holden wanted his freedom by asking Brennan:

"Were you aware that James Holden was a child