zled, Lord Romilly added a little testily, 'What do
you come here for?'

"The answer was immediate, unexpected, and, accompanied as it was by a
dramatic glance at the outside of his brief, as if to refresh his
memory, triumphant, 'Three and one, my lord!'"

"The following letter is to Mrs. Atkinson:

1 HARE COURT, TEMPLE, E.C., LONDON.
_September 18, '72._

MY DEAR LOO,--I trust it is well with yourself, John, and the
childer.... It is an off-day. We are resting on our legal oars
after a prolonged and determined struggle yesterday. Know!
that near our native hamlet is the level of Hatfield Chase,
whereon are numerous drains. Our drain (speaking from the
Corporation of Hatfield Chase point of view) we have stopped,
for our own purposes. Consequently, the adjacent lands have
been flooded, are flooded, and will continue to be flooded.
The landed gentry wish us to remove our dam, saying that if we
don't they won't be worth a d--n. We answer that we don't care
a d--n.

This interesting case has been simmering in the law-courts
since 1820. The landed gentry got a verdict in their favour at
the last Lincoln Assizes, but find themselves little the
better, as we have appealed, and our dam still reigns
triumphant. Yesterday an application was made to the judge to
order our dam to be removed. In the absence of Mellor, I
donned my forensic armour and did battle for the Corporation.
After two hours' hard fighting, we adjourned for a week; in
the meantime the floods may rise, and the winds blow. The
farmers yelled with rage when they heard that the dam had got
a week's respite. I rather fancy that they will yell louder on
Tuesday, as I hope to win another bloodless victory. It is a
pretty wanton sport, the cream of the joke being that the dam
is no good to us or to anybody else, and we have no real
objection to urge against its removal, excepting that such a
measure would be informal, and contrary to the law as laid
down some hundred years ago by an old gentleman who never
heard of a steam-engine, and who would have fainted at the
sight of a telegraph post. As we have the most money on our
side, I trust we shall win in the end. None of this useful
substance, however, comes my way, as it is Mellor's work. But
I hope to reap some advantage from