An Astral Partner. Each one represented a bastion or redoubt which must be scaled or turned. It was evident that my opponents had immensely the advantage of position; I knew them to be able and adroit, and the chances so re mote of either stealing a march upon them or overcoming them by direct assault, that I closed my note-book and betook myself to the drowsy consolation of a long-stemmed pipe, well charged with my favorite brand of nicotine solace. Every lawyer knows this mental condition, and the fact that the only way out of it is to abandon for a time the consideration of the matter in hand, giving his mind an opportunity to rest,.in order that he may take up the line of thought with a fresh impulse at some future date. In this mood I glanced mechanically over the dozen or so letters which constituted the day's mail. None of them were of partic ular moment until the last. This was from a man residing in a Northern city, whom I knew to be of great wealth and interested in an important suit which had been pending for some years in one of the counties in which I practiced. As I opened the letter, a slip of paper fell into my lap which I found to be a check drawn to my order for a sum that actually took my breath away. This was the purport of the letter, if not the exact words : — — , Esq. Dear Sir: Enclosed please find check for dol lars, as retainer in Morris vs. Cooper Hill Mining Company, now pending in Earl County of your State, of which case I desire you to take entire charge and control. Respectfully, Newland Morris. The letter was even more surprising than the check. I knew that able and distin guished counsel, some of whom were vastly my superiors in ability, already represented the plaintiff in this action. The cause in volved the title of a tract of mining land
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supposed to be of great value. That I should enter the case and assume control at the present stage in its progress was not to be contemplated for a moment, even with the temptation of the honorarium enclosed. So, not without a struggle, I wrote to Mr. Morris, calling his attention to these facts and returned the check endorsed to the order of its drawer. This transaction had a very depressing effect upon me. My practice was a fair one, but checks of such amount were not so frequent in it as to prevent their being rarities. I wandered about for sev eral days mentally kicking myself for what I had done. At the end of that time I re ceived another letter, enclosing a duplicate of the former check, informing me that all the attorneys previously engaged in the case had been paid off and discharged, not from any distrust of their faithfulness or ability, but for a reason which would be explained when we met. Upon inquiry, I learned this to be true; that each of them had received an entirely satisfactory douceur, and, at the request of their client, had filed a formal withdrawal from the case. I learned, also, that they did so with all the more readiness, because they were privately of the opinion that the plaintiff's case, though it rested on a state of facts which might be true, was not, as they conceived, susceptible of proof. There upon I disclosed the fact of my retainer and received the congratulations of my brethren on having secured a good fee, — the amount of which, of course, I kept se cret, — and their condolences for having en gaged in what they considered a hopeless cause. But I had the check to console me for prospective humiliation, and sending to the clerk of the court for the papers in the case, was fully informed as to its character before the time set for the Fall Term ar rived. After careful examination, however, I was inclined to agree with my predeces sors, though a possible way to avoid defeat presented itself.
