worse than African slavery to
which some lawyers subject us. We have seen innocent, modest lady
witnesses subjected to bull-dozing and abuse by barbarous lawyers,
until they suffered tortures to which those of the Spanish Inquisition
were merciful.

As I was obliged to go or die, I accepted the offer of my wife's
brother, a member of the publishing firm of Webster's Dictionaries,
and went to California to fight their battles against the new Standard
Dictionary which was rapidly driving the Webster books out of the
markets of the entire Pacific slope.

The trial took place during my enforced absence; my enemies' crafty
attorney told the jury that my failure to appear was a sure evidence
of guilt; my doctor's affidavit that he sent me away to save my life
was not allowed to be presented in court; each plaintiff claimed to
have heard the statements imputed to have been made by me to the
others, one of them making love to, and afterwards marrying one of my
most important witnesses, and so the verdict was against me.

But curses often "come home to roost," and my enemies were ultimately
not benefited at all, as the lawyer-sharks devoured all they received
from me.

In the meanwhile, during their worrying and falsifying, I was speeding
away in a palace-car, confident that my spirit brother's declaration
would prove true that truth is mighty and will prevail, if not in the
brief here, yet surely in the eternal hereafter. It is very saddening
to see how many, who claim to be your friends while you are
prosperous, are the first to assail with poisoned arrows when you are
attacked in the courts or in the public prints; but my conscience is
clear, and

Serene, I fold my hands and wait,
Nor care for wind, or tide or sea.
I rave no more 'gainst time or fate,
For soon my own shall come to me.

Asleep, awake, by night or day,
The friends I seek are seeking me;
No wind can drive my bark astray,
Nor change the tide of destiny.

The stars come nightly to the sky;
The tidal wave into the sea;
Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,
Can keep my own away from me.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

CAMPAIGNING IN WONDERLAND.

This delightful journey was a wonderful revelation of the greatness,
power, and grandeur of this glorious republic in which we live. I
gazed with amazement for many hours as we flew over the marvelously
fertile and beautiful prairies of Kansas; here miles upon miles of
whe