t the
room, and were out eight and one-quarter minutes. As they filed in,
the foreman sent a triumphant telepathic message to David before he
quietly drawled out:

"Not guilty, yer Honor."

The first movement was from Mrs. Miggs. And she came straight to
David, not to the jury.

"David," said the Judge, who had cleared his throat desperately and
wiped his glasses carefully, at the look in the eyes of the young
lawyer when they had rested on the defendant's wife, "hereafter our
office will be the refuge for all the riffraff in the country."

This was his only comment, but the Judge did not hesitate to turn over
any case to him thereafter.

When David had added a few more victories to his first one, Jud made
one of his periodical diversions by an offense against the law which
was far more serious in nature than his previous misdeeds had been.
M'ri came out to the farm to discuss the matter.

"Barnabas, Martin thinks you had better let the law take its course
this time. He says it's the only procedure left untried to reform Jud.
He is sure he can get a light sentence for him--two years."

"M'ri," said Barnabas, in a voice vibrating with reproach, "do you
want Jud to go to prison?"

M'ri paled.

"I want to do what is best for him, Barnabas. Martin thinks it will be
a salutary lesson."

"I wonder, M'ri," said Barnabas slowly, "if the Judge had a son of his
own, he would try to reform him by putting him behind bars."

"Oh, Barnabas!" protested M'ri, with a burst of tears.

"He's still my boy, if he is wild, M'ri."

"But, Barnabas, Martin's patience is exhausted. He has got him out of
trouble so many times--and, oh, Barnabas, he says he won't under any
circumstances take the case! He is ashamed to face the court and jury
with such a palpably guilty client. I have pleaded with him, but I
can't influence him. You know how set he can be!"

"Wal, there are other lawyers," said Barnabas grimly.

[Illustration: "_He kept his word. Jud was cleared_"]

David had remained silent and constrained during this conversation,
the lines of his young face setting like steel. Suddenly he left the
house and paced up and down in the orchard, to wrestle once more with
the old problem of his boyhood days. It was different now. Then it had
been a question of how much he must stand from Jud for the sake of the
benefits bestowed by the offender's father. Now it meant a sacrifice
of principle. He had made his boyish boast that he w