"To-morrow!" repeated Bergan, in much surprise. "That is very short notice."
"I know it. But it is of the greatest consequence to me that the case should be tried at this time, and not carried over to another term. It was in the hands of Squire Fielder, one of our Williston lawyers; but he was taken sick this afternoon,—fell down in court, some brain difficulty or other,—and is forbidden by the physicians to do a thing. So I inquired for a lawyer that hadn't got his hands full of business, and somebody mentioned you. I remembered your name; I happened to be North five years ago, and heard your Commencement speech, and knew what sort of a reputation you graduated with; so I quickly made up my mind that you were the man for my need. I've brought all the papers,—Squire Fielder's notes and all,—he couldn't well do less than give them to me, under the circumstances. I understand matters pretty well myself; and we've got the night before us. If you'll undertake to master the case by ten o'clock to-morrow morning, I am willing to put it in your hands."
"I will do my best," said Bergan, after a brief consideration.
Mr. Corlew immediately began to open and sort his papers; Bergan brought writing materials, drew his chair to the opposite side of the table, and bent2 all the powers of his mind to the hard task before him. It was an action for ejectment, involving trial of title, and with the usual mixed and intricate character of such things; interwoven, too, with a pathetic story of misfortune. Bergan patiently examined and questioned; Mr. Corlew intelligently explained and answered. The investigation3 was scarce half concluded, when Bergan quietly pushed Mr. Fielder's notes aside.
"They do not help me," he explained, in answer to a glance from Mr. Corlew, "In my judgment4, he has mistaken the point on which the case really hangs. At all events, I shall do better to manage it in my own way."
Midnight came and went on silent feet; the "wee, sma' hours," sacred to love rather than law, hastened, one after another, to join their numerous kin5 in the misty6 vale of the Heretofore; the stars went out like spent lamps; the dim night-silence began to stir with vague premonitions of light and sound; finally, gray dawn looked solemnly in through the windows. Then Bergan lifted his head, and pushed back the hair from his brow.
"Now leave me," he said to his companion, with unwonted sombreness. "The rest must be done by myself. I will meet you at the court-house, in good time."
He made an almost imperceptible pause. Then, looking Mr. Corlew full in the face, he said, in a tone half-assertive, half-questioning;—
"You wish to succeed in this suit?"
Mr. Corlew's eyes fell under his penetrating7 gaze. "Of course I do," he answered a little surlily. "What else am I here for?"
Bergan seemed to muse8 for a moment. "Well," said he, at length, in the tone of a man who recalls his thoughts from an episodical flight to the main subject, "I think you may reasonably expect success, if your witnesses testify as is here set down. The law is clearly in your favor."
"I am glad to hear it," returned Mr. Corlew, heartily9. Yet he looked slightly annoyed, none the less; and his "Good morning," as he went out, was a little stiff.
Bergan leaned back in his chair, folded his arms, and knitted his brow. He looked like a man assailed10 by some miserable11 doubt or suspicion, which yet he is half-inclined to regard, as illegitimate.
"It is a necessity of my profession," he muttered, at last; and, with a mighty12 effort, he tore himself free from the teasing phantom13, and addressed himself anew to his work.
There is no need to burden these pages with the tedious formalities of a trial at law. Suffice it to say that Bergan conducted the case with an ease and ability that surprised his legal associates. They had looked for some nervousness, some hesitation14, some solicitude15, some awkwardness, in the manner of the young legal débutant; they could detect nothing of the sort. He made his opening speech with consummate16 clearness and composure; and he examined and cross-examined witnesses, quoted authorities, took exceptions, and made points, with a quiet ease, and even, at times, with a touch of listlessness, that argued excellent training and profound knowledge.
Perhaps his quietude of manner was the more perfect, that a slight cloud hung on his brow, all through the two days of the trial; though his observers were too little acquainted with the wonted expression of his face to discover it. Not till he rose to make his final speech did the shadow lift. Then, indeed, the spectators noticed a change. He had spoken but a few sentences, when his eyes kindled17, his brow cleared, his voice gathered fulness and melody, he forgot himself and his doubt in the glow of an irresistible18 inspiration, in the glad exercise of a natural gift of oratory19 so wondrous20, so unexpected, and so potent21, that court and spectator were alike taken by storm. Only in dim tradition had such a speech ever been heard in that court room,—so fluent, so animated22, so skilfully23 throwing an ideal grace around dry, bare legal facts, without dimming their outline or destroying their logical connection. People held their breath to listen, unwilling24 to lose one delicate shade of thought, one fit, luminous25 expression. Two or three times, the judge was forced to suppress outbursts of applause, in which, nevertheless, his pleased and interested face concurred26; and when Bergan took his seat, gray-headed lawyers stretched their hands across the table in hearty27 congratulation.
A verdict for his client was almost immediately rendered. Then he stepped out into the crowd, to be met on all sides by extended hands and enthusiastic compliments. People that had always studiously avoided him, now sought to catch his eye; gentlemen who had never vouchsafed28 him more than a stiff nod, now waited to give him a friendly hand-grasp and a few congratulatory words. One of the magnates of the neighborhood publicly stamped him, as it were, with the seal of his high approbation29, by engaging him for a few moments in conversation, and then parting from him with an intimation that he might expect an early invitation to dinner.
Turning away from the dog-day smile of this personage,—late and sultry,—Bergan encountered the meaning gaze of a pair of blear eyes.
"Sudden change of weather," remarked Dick Causton, dryly. "'it never rains but it pours.' You are in a heavy shower, Mr. Arling."
And with unwonted consideration, Dick waited till Bergan had passed on, before he muttered, "In picciol tempo30 passa ogni gran pioggia,—a heavy shower is soon over."
Dr. Remy came next. "I never sing in chorus," said he, shrugging his shoulders, and putting his hands behind him; "I shall keep my compliments for a day of dearth31. But what a weathercock is public opinion!"
Yet the change was not altogether so sudden and radical32 as it appeared. Bergan's upright, independent course of conduct, so quietly persisted in, through all these months, despite every discouragement, had at last begun to tell upon the prejudices of the community. Mrs. Lyte's warm advocacy and indignant protest, in her small circle, had also had its weight. Probably both would have availed much earlier, but for the curiously33 infelicitous34 language in which Dr. Remy had all along chosen to couch his responses to such persons as had approached him in relation to Bergan's character and habits.
"As talented a fellow as ever lived," he replied to one inquirer,—"and as deep a one. Ah! he knows well what he's about!"
"Sober?" he answered another,—"certainly; as sober as an anchorite. I hope he will keep so."
"Mr. Arling is my neighbor and friend, as friendship goes," he said to another; "I neither make, nor listen to, derogatory remarks about him. If you want confirmation35 for your prejudice, go elsewhere. I am not in that line."
Intentionally36 or not, Dr. Remy's cool cynicism rather damaged than helped Bergan's cause.
Nevertheless, the steadfast37 testimony38 of his upright life remained, and could not be wholly ignored. The feeling was fast becoming general that the young man deserved somewhat better at the hands of the community than he had received. And the feeling would doubtless have manifested itself in good time, and with due caution, if Bergan's unexampled success in the court-room had not fairly dazzled out of sight the last lingering shadow of prejudice, and caused a popular reaction toward the other extreme of enthusiastic admiration39 and approval,—a reaction all the stronger because spurred on by a lurking40 sense of past injustice41.
Moreover, the little, sleepy town, whose intellectual brilliants were few, and not of the first water, naturally felt that it could not afford to ignore the fine talent which had so suddenly blazed out in its midst, and which might be regarded as, in some sense, of its own creation.
"He really belongs to us, you know," remarked one townsman proudly to another. "He comes of the Bergans of Bergan Hall, on the mother's side,—good old aristocratic stock. And he's an honor to it!"
And so, as has been said before, Bergan's exit from the court-room was a scene of triumph that might easily have turned an older head, and quickened the beating of a chiller heart.
But Bergan took it all quietly, gravely,—almost indifferently. The cloud had settled back upon his brow, and never stirred for any compliment, or congratulation, or friendliness42. Most persons attributed it to wounded pride, not yet healed. In the midst of the ovation43, they believed that he kept a rankling44 remembrance of the coldness and neglect which had preceded it. One observer only, a little clearer eyed than the rest, said to him:—
"You look tired."
"And well he may!" responded Mr. Corlew, standing45 by with a face of unalloyed satisfaction. "He never saw the case until evening before last; and he has not slept for two nights."
There was another, and a stronger, burst of admiration, mingled46 with wonder; but the complacent47, satisfied tone of Mr. Corlew's voice only deepened the shadow on Bergan's brow. Quickly extricating48 himself from both crowd and client, he walked swiftly home, meditating49, as he went, upon the seeming churlishness of human existence, in that it never gives us what we want, or gives it only in such way and shape as to neutralize50 its sweetness.
What, then, was the drop of bitterness in his cup of triumph?
Not the paltry51 pride that had been attributed to him, nor yet the depressing reaction that comes after excitement, but an uneasy suspicion that he had helped to do an injustice. He had discovered,—or seemed to discover,—as the intricacies of the recent case had unfolded themselves before him, that law and justice stood on opposite sides of it. Of his client's legal right to the property in dispute, admitting his statements to be true, there seemed to be no question; but of his moral right to it, as well as of his own personal integrity, and that of his principal witness, Bergan had grave doubts. And these doubts had followed him, and planted a heavy footstep on his conscience, all the way down through the trial. For he was still young, his personal conscience tender, and his professional one undeveloped. His duty as a man, and his duty as a lawyer, had not yet distinctly separated themselves into opposing segments.
So, while the whole town was ringing with the fame of his successful legal début, he sat moodily52 in his office, a prey53 to troubled and half-regretful thought, until Sleep, so long defrauded54 of her rights, stole upon him in his chair, and held him fast prisoned in her soft embrace.
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1
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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8
muse
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| n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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consummate
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| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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concurred
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| 同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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vouchsafed
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| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 )；允诺 | |
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approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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tempo
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| n.(音乐的)速度；节奏，行进速度 | |
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dearth
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| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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infelicitous
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| adj.不适当的 | |
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confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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intentionally
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| ad.故意地，有意地 | |
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steadfast
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| adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的 | |
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testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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friendliness
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| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
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ovation
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| n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌 | |
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rankling
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| v.（使）痛苦不已，（使）怨恨不已( rankle的现在分词 ) | |
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45
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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46
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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complacent
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| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
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48
extricating
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| v.使摆脱困难，脱身( extricate的现在分词 ) | |
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meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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neutralize
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| v.使失效、抵消，使中和 | |
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51
paltry
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| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
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52
moodily
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| adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地 | |
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53
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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54
defrauded
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| v.诈取，骗取( defraud的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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