the President, and the future President, Hannen, my
junior.

We won a great victory through the remarkable over-confidence and
indiscretion of Edwin James, Q.C., who opposed us. James's client was
the husband of the deceased. By her will the lady had left him the
whole of her property, amounting to nearly L100,000. The case we set
up was that the wife had been improperly influenced by her husband in
making it, and that her mind was coerced into doing what she did not
intend to do, and so we sought to set aside the will on that ground.

Edwin James had proved a very strong case on behalf of the validity of
the will. He had called the attesting witnesses, and they, respectable
gentlemen as they undoubtedly were, had proved all that was
necessary--namely, that the testator, notwithstanding that she was in
a feeble condition and almost at the last stage, was perfectly calm
and capable in mind and understanding--exactly, in fact, as a testator
ought to be who wills her property to her husband if he retains her
affection.

The witnesses had been cross-examined by me, and nothing had
been elicited that cast the least doubt upon their character or
credibility. Had the matter been left where it was, the L100,000 would
have been secured. But James, whatever may have been his brilliance,
was wanting in tact. He would not leave well alone, but resolved to
call the Rev. Mr. Faker, a distinguished Dissenting minister.

In fiction this gentleman would have appeared in the melodramatic
guise of a spangled tunic, sugar-loaf hat, with party-coloured
ribbons, purple or green breeches, and motley hose; but in the
witness-box he was in clerical uniform, a long coat and white cravat
with corresponding long face and hair, especially at the back of his
head. A soberer style of a stage bandit was never seen. He was just
the man for cross-examination, I saw at a glance--a fancy witness,
and, I believe, a Welshman. As he was a Christian warrior, I had to
find out the weak places in his armour. But little he knew of courts
of law and the penetrating art of cross-examination, which could make
a hole in the triple-plated coat of fraud, hypocrisy, and cunning. I
was in no such panoply. I fought only with my little pebblestone and
sling, but took good aim, and then the missile flew with well-directed
speed.

I had to throw at a venture at first, because, happily, there were no
instructions how to cross-examine. Not that I should have followed