LIBRARY 
 
 TOTTVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 DAVIS 
 
r 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 A NOVEL 
 
 BY 
 
 CHAELES K. LUSH 
 
 If he had been as you, and you as he, 
 You would hare slipp'd like him." 
 
 Measure for Measure* 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLTN AND COMPANY 
 
 1897 
 
COPYRIGHT 1897 BY CHARLES K. LUSH 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
 
 THIS book was written in collaboration with a 
 friend who feels that his share of the work would 
 be unduly magnified were his name to appear as 
 one of its authors. I wish, however, to acknowledge 
 my indebtedness to him for a careful editing of my 
 manuscript, for contributions to several chapters, 
 and for kindly counsel and encouragement. 
 
 CHARLES K. LUSH. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 CHAPTEK I 
 
 THE weather is not an important factor in this 
 tale, if the following record of events, set down 
 in their order and influencing one another so as to 
 produce other events, may be correctly called a 
 tale, yet such was the beauty of the September 
 morning when our chronicle begins, that it is per- 
 haps just as well to allude to it. One delights to 
 set sail or to start on a long journey under a fair 
 sky ; and as there are shadows as well as sunshine 
 in the lives of those with whom we are soon to 
 become acquainted, it is well to begin with the 
 sunshine in order to have an account to the good. 
 
 This particular day in September was the first 
 day of the calendar in the circuit court of Stall- 
 worth County, presided over by Judge Tracy 
 Dunn. Bowerville, the county seat, and there- 
 fore the place of holding court, was not a small 
 town, and neither was it large. It had reached 
 that stage where, figuratively speaking, it still wore 
 knickerbockers, but felt big enough for long trou- 
 sers. Nestled in the valley of a river that had 
 long since ceased to supply the water-power which 
 
2 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 had influenced the early settlers in selecting the 
 locality as a town site, it was one of the most pic- 
 turesque and thriving of the small cities of the 
 Northwest. It was an old town, as age is reck- 
 oned in the Northwest, and the prevailing style of 
 architecture was of that simple type which shows 
 in itself the rigidity of the Puritan, softened by 
 the touch of far-back ancestral influence that made 
 itself felt in feeble attempts at ornamentation in 
 the form of little scallopy roof trimmings and a 
 veranda extending along the entire front of the 
 house, invariably reached by ascending three steps 
 from the ground. 
 
 In one of these houses Judge Tracy Dunn had 
 made his home for the last quarter of a century. 
 He was, at the half way stile between fifty and 
 sixty, as rugged, physically, as a grizzly bear, for 
 he had unto himself an hygienic code which, among 
 other observances, prescribed the chopping of a 
 certain amount of wood every morning before 
 breakfast, rain or shine, winter and summer. No 
 one had ever discovered by what mental process of 
 measurement the judge always managed to pro- 
 duce exactly the same quantity of chopped and 
 split oak or maple each day. Neither had any 
 one around the premises ever been able to deter- 
 mine just what fraction of a cord that quantity 
 was. As the hired man expressed it, there was 
 always "jest enough to fill the two wood-boxes 
 three times, and a few hunks for the big stove in 
 the settin'-room." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE O 
 
 Judge Dunn was slightly below the average 
 man of the West in height, which by no means 
 implies that he was small of stature, for what he 
 lacked in height he made up in breadth of shoul- 
 der and general massiveness of frame, from his 
 large, well-rounded head to his thick-soled boots, 
 and these were built on no common last. His 
 forehead was really higher than it looked, because 
 his thick iron -gray hair had early overstepped the 
 line of the border plantations, as generally laid 
 out, and by nature had encroached downwards 
 until it left a somewhat narrow space between 
 itself and his eyebrows, which were shaggy and 
 inclined to curl outward. His eyes were a deep 
 blue of peculiar shade, without a suggestion of 
 gray, and his long nose was emphasized by a 
 hump in the centre of the ridge, which lent to his 
 countenance an expression of sternness, strongly 
 impressive at first glance. The lower part of his 
 face was covered with a mustache and beard that 
 matched his hair in color and concealed his mouth 
 and chin; but a picture of him taken in 1862 
 showed a young man with a well-rounded chin, 
 square-set jaws, and a handsome mouth. 
 
 Judge Dunn had presided over this circuit for 
 two terms, and there was no man more popular 
 than he in Stallworth County. A remark made 
 by a Yankee farmer, some years before, had be- 
 come historical, and was generally accepted as a 
 fair estimate of the man. "Goll durn him ! " ex- 
 claimed this farmer, after having gotten the worst 
 
4 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 of an argument, "the jedge is as set in his ways 
 as a mule, but durn if his ways ain't 'bout always 
 kerrect." 
 
 It was a morning in September such as is seen 
 only in latitudes where the fall of the year fur- 
 nishes that fleeting and uncertain but most delight- 
 ful of all seasons, Indian summer. And this was 
 Indian summer the beginning, and perhaps the 
 end, for no one may make a calendar for Indian 
 summer. The air was a trifle crisp in the early 
 dawn, for it was not yet six o'clock, and the ring 
 of the judge's axe, as it sent the oak chips flying, 
 was sharp and distinct. 
 
 "Reg'lar Indian summer day, judge," remarked 
 a weazened little man, who had come from the 
 barn and, placing a well-filled milk-pail on the 
 ground, had seated himself on a sawhorse close 
 to where the judge was swinging his axe. " Reckon 
 we couldn't hev a better day to open court." 
 
 "It is a beautiful day, Rufus," replied the 
 judge, pausing in his work and looking first at 
 the rising sun and then at the clear sky overhead. 
 "I wouldn't have objected to a day like this last 
 week. The bass will be keen this morning." 
 
 Rufus chuckled and rolled his eyes. 
 
 "If it wasn't court day, I 'd hitch up an' take 
 a run over to the lake and try 'em," he said with 
 a sigh. 
 
 "So would I," replied the judge dryly, resuming 
 his chopping, while Rufus picked up his pail and 
 prepared to again take up the thread of his unfin- 
 ished chores. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 5 
 
 "Er, I say, judge a it wouldn't do fer 
 me," began Rufus in a stammering way, "I 
 couldn't take a sort of flying trip over to the 
 lake, could I, an' ' 
 
 The judge leaned on his axe, and, casting a 
 quizzical glance at the man, said, with well-feigned 
 surprise : 
 
 "What ! on the opening day of the fall term? " 
 
 "Haw, haw! " laughed Rufus, giving a sort of 
 double shuffle with his feet by way of emphasis; 
 and he trotted off to the house whistling as he 
 went. 
 
 The judge followed him with an amused look in 
 his blue eyes. 
 
 "The old rascal! " he murmured. "He could 
 n't be chased way from here to-day with a battery 
 of light artillery." 
 
 Rufus Pease was the hired man. He had be- 
 longed to the judge's company through the war, 
 and had been with him ever since, excepting five 
 years just after the close of the war, when he had 
 tried his luck on the Pacific coast. His luck had 
 not been of the Mackey-Jim Flood type, and one 
 day Rufus had drifted back to Bowerville just in 
 time to find Judge Dunn in need of a hired man. 
 At least the judge said he needed one, and Rufus 
 had been in the family ever since. 
 
 An hour after Rufus had trotted into the house 
 with his milk - pail, the judge came downstairs 
 fittingly attired for so august an occasion as the 
 opening of court. He wore a suit of black doe- 
 
6 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 skin, the coat of which was what is known as a 
 frock, double-breasted and cut high in the collar. 
 It was of ample proportions, and its age no man 
 could guess, although it was as spick and span as 
 the first day he had put it on. It was not but- 
 toned now, and as it flowed open it disclosed a 
 pair of trousers which bagged at the knees, and 
 which showed just below the knee-joint that pe- 
 culiar circular crease which betokened that their 
 owner wore boots. The judge came down hum- 
 ming the fragment of an old song, and, passing 
 through the hall, stepped out on to the veranda. 
 As he reached the porch, there was the flash, 
 of a white dress, the flutter of bright ribbons, 
 a tossing of brown hair, and a girl's voice, the 
 laughing voice of a young woman, ringing out 
 cheerily : 
 
 "Here I am, papa! Now for the exercises. 
 Remember, I weigh one hundred and twenty -five 
 now." 
 
 The judge stretched his brawny arms at full 
 length in front of him, and when he slowly raised 
 them a trifle they held suspended in the air as 
 pretty a bit of pink and white young womanhood 
 as could be found for many a mile around, in 
 country, village, or city. It was his daughter 
 Harriet, his only child now, the one bit of con- 
 tinuous sunshine that illumined his life; for the 
 other, that is, the boy but we are looking at the 
 sunny side of things now, and that is out of place 
 here. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 7 
 
 "Oh, you can lift me now," said Harriet, with 
 a playful little pout, "but after a while I shall 
 grow to be such a great big girl that you can't." 
 
 "Yes, Harriet," replied the judge with mock 
 gravity, "but that will be when the heavy hand 
 of Time is laid on your poor old father." 
 
 "Oh, I don't mean that," cried Harriet, disen- 
 gaging herself and throwing her arms around her 
 father's neck. "I don't mean that, papa, because 
 you will never grow old. You are just as young 
 as you ever were." 
 
 The judge laughed, and kissing Harriet stroked 
 her waving brown hair, and replied : 
 
 "Never mind, little girl, I won't grow old any 
 faster than I can help; I '11 promise you that." 
 
 At this moment Mrs. Dunn joined them on the 
 porch. The judge greeted her with a courtly bow, 
 and then, placing his arm about her, kissed her 
 upon the forehead. 
 
 "Here 's one that never does grow old, Harriet," 
 continued the judge. "She 's as young in my eyes 
 as the day I first met her." 
 
 "And you are a great big boy yet," said Mrs. 
 Dunn, returning the caress. The retort was play- 
 ful and the kiss one of affection, but the smile 
 that accompanied them had the suggestion of a 
 shadow in it, and was in sombre contrast with the 
 spontaneous, rippling laugh of the daughter. Mrs. 
 Dunn never laughed. She was a quiet little wo- 
 man, with the air of one who had learned to fold 
 her hands and bow to the dictates of a will stronger 
 
8 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 than her own. Not that she belonged to the 
 whimpering and crying sort of women, for she had 
 a sunny disposition, though there was obviously 
 some cloud that obscured it. Her face, in its 
 faintly quivering lip, in the saddened, far-off 
 look of her soft brown eyes, in the merest sug- 
 gestion of a furrow upon her forehead, told of 
 a sorrow, buried, perhaps, but whose spectral form 
 would not vanish. Yes; a look from her husband 
 would always dispel it, and then the old smile 
 would come to life again. But Mrs. Dunn never 
 laughed. 
 
 The tinkle of a bell announced that breakfast 
 was ready, and the three entered the broad hall- 
 way that led to the dining-room, the judge in the 
 middle, his wife and daughter clinging to an arm 
 on either side. 
 
 There was one peculiarity about Judge Dunn's 
 table : it was always laid for four, while there were 
 but three persons in the family. This was not 
 for the accommodation of an unexpected visitor, 
 however, for there was no chair at the vacant 
 place, and the utensils were not such as Mrs. 
 Dunn would have set before a guest. The plate 
 wa an old one, yellow with age, in fact, and 
 nicked in spots on its blue margin; the knife was 
 bone-handled, as was also its three-tined compan- 
 ion; and in marked contrast with the glistening 
 goblets at the other places, there was a metal mug 
 which had long since become insensible to the in- 
 fluence of the red flannel rag with which Betsy 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 polished the silver. An ivory napkin-ring, with 
 a napkin neatly rolled within it, completed the 
 setting. 
 
 "Your coffee is unusually fragrant this morn- 
 ing, Betsy," remarked the judge. 
 
 "It came purty near being spiled completely," 
 said Betsy with a nasal twang. "That good-for- 
 nothing Ruf us went and took every bit of the hot 
 water, and I had to make it with cold." 
 
 " 'Pears to me," she continued, "he 's nigh crazy 
 whenever court day comes 'round. Anybody 'd 
 think to see him sputtering about that the whole 
 thing depended on him. I do believe he thinks 
 he 's as much importance as the judge himself." 
 
 "Ruf us takes great interest in court proceed- 
 ings, Betsy," observed the judge. "You know we 
 have been on the bench a long time," he added 
 with a smile. 
 
 "Bench! " sniffed Betsy. "'Pears to me he 's 
 sittin' on that old sawhorse out there most the 
 time when he ain't traipsing over to the lake, and 
 wasting his time a-nshin' and a-fishin'. If I had 
 my way, I 'd make him earn his salt," and Betsy 
 sailed majestically out into the kitchen and shut 
 the door behind her. 
 
 Betsy Pilsbury, to use her own language, had 
 "been with the Dunn family nigh on to twenty 
 years," and she always added that she reckoned 
 she would stay with them until she died. Betsy 
 was a spinster of Down East extraction, and ac- 
 cording to all traditions should have been angular, 
 
10 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 for she was tall ; but she was nothing of the kind. 
 In vernacular and in disposition she came up to 
 the tradition usually associated with Down East 
 spinsters, but the resemblance stopped there and 
 went to the other extreme. She weighed over 
 two hundred pounds, and it was the guess of cer- 
 tain shrewd farmers, who sold live-stock by weight, 
 that she would scale pretty close to two hundred 
 and fifty. But no man or woman had ever suc- 
 ceeded in getting Betsy on the scales, save once, 
 when, seated on a loaded farm wagon, she had 
 been driven on to the public hay scales, and the 
 record showed that her weight closely approxi- 
 mated two hundred and fifty; but unfortunately it 
 was later on discovered that the scales were out 
 of order at the time, and Betsy indignantly, and 
 maybe justly, denied the truthfulness of the record. 
 After that it was impossible to again inveigle her 
 within weighing distance of anything that looked 
 like a pair of scales. She had a double chin, 
 snappy little black eyes, and dark hair ; and when 
 Betsy was once "sot" nothing could budge her, 
 that is, nothing but a word, just a simple, quiet 
 little word from Judge Tracy Dunn. 
 
 The family were taking their time at breakfast 
 when Betsy again stuck her head into the door, 
 and said: "If you don't get ready to start to court 
 pretty soon, jedge, that pesky Kufus there will 
 have a conniption fit. I never saw anybody act 
 like him. He 's having regular tantrums out 
 here." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 11 
 
 "It's pretty nigh on to time to open court, 
 jedge," said a weak, quavering voice somewhere 
 behind Betsy, "and the ole mare ain't as lively as 
 she uster be." 
 
 "Very well," said the judge, pushing his chair 
 back; "I '11 be ready in a minute, Eufus. Drive 
 around in front of the house with the buggy." 
 
 And a few minutes later they drove away, Rufus 
 all smiles, and Harriet waving her handkerchief 
 from the porch and throwing kisses to her father, 
 while Mrs. Dunn stood in the front doorway and 
 smiled. 
 
 To all intents and purposes court was now in 
 session. 
 
CHAPTEK II 
 
 THE money that first made the great Trans- 
 American Railroad a possibility came from the 
 East. A part of the millions thus contributed 
 went to line the pockets of the officers of the con- 
 struction company, who were also officers and 
 stockholders of the original company. It was 
 Eastern men who lobbied through the enormous 
 land grants for the right of way into the boundless 
 West, and it was Eastern money that secured the 
 services of Western push and talent that made the 
 road a success. Likewise it was Eastern nerve 
 and daring that poured water into the stock by 
 which millions of dollars were drawn into the treas- 
 ury of the company, and in return for which cer- 
 tain pieces of paper were given. 
 
 For a while the road was, on paper, one of the 
 greatest and most prosperous systems in the coun- 
 try. But the burden was too much to bear, and 
 the time was fast approaching when some heroic 
 measures must be taken to prevent the collapse 
 and bankruptcy of the great public carrier. The 
 main offices were in the West, in the city of Mai- 
 ton, less than a half day's ride from Chiopolis. 
 At the head of the road, the actual manager and 
 acting president, was a man to whom Wall Street 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 13 
 
 
 
 had been a kindergarten and the stock exchange 
 a finishing academy, for he never took a full col- 
 legiate course. His name was Elliot Gardwell. 
 So far as appearances went, Gardwell might have 
 been anywhere from thirty -five to forty-eight years 
 of age. He was tall and slender, with a dark 
 complexion, dark mustache, and steel-gray eyes. 
 The mustache was inclined to droop, and he al- 
 lowed it to do so during business hours, but with 
 a little twist of his fingers he could turn up the 
 ends and change his whole appearance. He had 
 what might be termed a face of high expression : 
 lights and shades ran across it with a rapidity of 
 change that suggested the shadow of a cloud sweep- 
 ing over meadow-land on a gusty, sunshiny day. 
 But these clouds and the sunshine were under per- 
 fect control; they never came at the wrong time. 
 He had rather a long nose, and when in deep 
 thought it seemed still longer, as a contraction of 
 the brow formed a ridge, as though the nose ex- 
 tended from its tip to a point half way through his 
 high but narrow forehead. His hair was black, 
 with streaks of gray running through it. But his 
 mouth was the wonderful part of his face. It 
 seemed as if he really had two mouths, so far as 
 the outline and lips were concerned. When in 
 the mood, a light and pleasing mood it was on 
 these occasions, he could distend the lower lip and 
 shape the corners of his mouth into a smile as 
 winsome as ever rested on the face of a choir boy. 
 This mouth was handsome, a perfect cupid's bow, 
 
14 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 though it was a weak and somewhat sensual one. 
 His other mouth and it was not certain which 
 was the natural one was thin lipped, with a 
 little pucker in each corner, and it was so straight 
 a line that it gave to his face a look of quiet deter- 
 mination, suggestive of a will power that would 
 brook no interference nor stop at anything to 
 enforce its demands. He could smile with this 
 mouth, too, a queer little set smile that made his 
 face look pleasant enough and showed the tips 
 of a set of even, white teeth. His hands were 
 small and slender, and he used them to emphasize 
 his words, moving them from the wrist, with his 
 arms in repose. It was wonderful to see how 
 much expression he could get into the slightest 
 movement of a hand with his elbow resting on the 
 desk and the forearms stationary and inclined at 
 an angle from him. Nearly every friend or ac- 
 quaintance of Elliot Gardwell had at some time or 
 other made the discovery, and remarked upon it 
 as though the discovery were new, that he was "a 
 remarkable man." 
 
 Three days before the opening of court at Bow- 
 erville, Elliot Gardwell sat in* his office at Malton, 
 reading a report of the legal advisers of the com- 
 pany. He had read it over several times, and the 
 ridge began to grow in the centre of his forehead 
 until, finally, he tapped a bell; and when the clerk 
 appeared in response, he said in a sharp, decisive 
 tone, "Send for Stalker." 
 
 The ridge remained on his face while he waited. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 15 
 
 and Stalker noticed it with misgivings when he 
 entered the office of his superior. 
 
 "Take a chair," said Gardwell. "You advise 
 us not to go to trial in this damage suit in the 
 circuit court of Stallworth County. For what 
 reason, pray ? " 
 
 "We never got a verdict in that court," was 
 Stalker's laconic reply. 
 
 "Oh, is that all? " Perhaps we had better begin 
 and get one." 
 
 "I'm sure no one would like to get a favor- 
 able verdict there better than I," said Stalker; 
 "but I have been up there several times in the 
 last five years, and I never saw a case yet which 
 we had any show of winning. The judge is a reg- 
 ular old granger, and he believes that every man 
 connected with a corporation is hired man to the 
 devil." 
 
 "Pooh," sneered Gardwell contemptuously. 
 "The woods are full of that kind of judges. We 
 generally manage to gather them in as we want 
 them, don't we, Stalker?" 
 
 Stalker smiled and nodded. "But you can't 
 get Judge Tracy Dunn." 
 
 "What kind of a man is this Dunn, any way? " 
 asked Gardwell in a milder tone. 
 
 "Well," began Stalker, "that 's a hard question 
 to answer. He is liberal enough in some ways, 
 but narrow in others, and his narrowest point is 
 where it pinches our feet. He 's down on corpo- 
 rations." 
 
16 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Is he a socialist, or an anarchist, or anything 
 of that sort?" 
 
 "Oh, no," replied Stalker; "he ain't that kind 
 at all. He simply believes that corporations have 
 more than their share of the advantages in litiga- 
 tion. He thinks we make a demonstration, a sort 
 of grand-stand play, it might be called, and use 
 various artifices to influence the minds of judges 
 and jurymen. So, in order not to be improperly 
 influenced, this old fellow leans the other way. 
 He is as honest as the day is long, and he 's as 
 stubborn as he is honest." 
 
 "Well," said Gardwell, "I don't know what to 
 do about it, but I would like to break this succes- 
 sion of adverse verdicts in his court. We have 
 lost prestige in that district to such an extent that 
 no matter what the claim is, it is allowed. These 
 countrymen have been educated up to the idea that 
 every time a corporation sticks its head into court, 
 no matter how good its cause may be, it is their 
 bounden duty to hit it. It is not the ultimate 
 result of this suit that interests me, but the effect, 
 the moral effect, of losing all the time in the lower 
 courts. Of course the supreme court would over- 
 rule the verdict. This farmer here wants five 
 thousand dollars damages for the loss of three 
 haystacks and a barn by fire. What did he want 
 to leave that fringe of grass along the fence for, 
 anyway? It extended from our right of way close 
 up to his barnyard." 
 
 "Claims he could not get into the corners with 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 17 
 
 his mowing-machine," said Stalker, "and it won't 
 be very hard for him to prove that to such a jury 
 as they panel in Judge Dunn's court." 
 
 "Does the charge of Judge Dunn to the jury 
 cut much figure out there?" asked Gardwell sud- 
 denly. 
 
 "About the same thing as a verdict," replied 
 Stalker dryly; "never knew it to fail yet. What- 
 ever Dunn says goes." 
 
 Gardwell was lost in thought for several mo- 
 ments, and then looking up, said : 
 
 " Stalker, I ' ve a good mind to go out there 
 myself; I haven't been in court for a good many 
 months, especially in the country. I want to see 
 this judge; he must be quite a character. I'm 
 glad to say there are only a few of his sort left. 
 Yes ; I will go. I need a little rest, anyway, and 
 I am a fairly good missionary, you know, and may 
 come back with a proselyte." 
 
 "So far as taking a rest goes, you will do well 
 to go," said Stalker, "but it is my judgment that 
 you will be doing extremely well if you get inside 
 his picket lines on the corporation question." 
 
 He was bowing himself out when Gardwell 
 looked up and asked, "Stalker, has Dunn got a 
 pass on our road?" 
 
 "No," was the reply; "we haven't sent him one 
 for the past six years. We have his letter on file 
 asking us not to a very gentlemanly letter, too. 
 He said he knew we were simply following a cus- 
 tom, but at the same time asked as a special favor 
 
18 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 that we wouldn't trouble him with any more 
 passes. He 's the man, you '11 remember, who 
 said that he charged the road all the law would 
 allow for what it got in his court, and he wanted 
 the road to charge all the law would allow for 
 what it did for him." 
 
 "What 's his weak point, Stalker?" 
 
 "I don't know that he has any." 
 
 "Pshaw ! " said Gardwell; "I thought better of 
 you than that. All men have their weak points. 
 Has he no hobby?" 
 
 " Come to think of it, he has a great collection 
 of butterflies and can tell you the name and " 
 
 "That's enough," interrupted Gardwell, "but- 
 terflies it is." 
 
 This ended the interview, and Stalker took his 
 leave. 
 
 "That fellow Stalker is a great seducer of 
 men," mused Gardwell, "but like all of his class, 
 no matter how skilled in their art they may be, 
 they always find fortresses that are impregnable. 
 Such are left for better men to carry." He twirled 
 his mustache in a satisfied way, and taking a cigar 
 from a drawer lighted it. It was a habit he had, 
 of smoking when some important matter was under 
 consideration. In the clouds which he now blew 
 from his lips he pictured the granger judge, nar- 
 row, bigoted, and with the little learning that had 
 made him such a dangerous thing. He began to 
 figure how he might ingratiate himself with the 
 judge, and impress upon him the many advantages 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 19 
 
 that would accrue should he be willing to modify 
 his views. Not that he had any thought of brib- 
 ing this stubborn jurist. Elliot Gardwell was too 
 shrewd a man to venture so far as to attempt brib- 
 ery, out and out. But he had certain deft and 
 cunning ways of influencing the minds of others, 
 and the success with which he employed these was 
 briefly told in his remark to Stalker, " We gener- 
 ally manage to gather them in as we need them." 
 Gardwell was, in short, of that type whom we 
 style as confidence men when engaged in a retail 
 business, but who are esteemed as diplomats when 
 they conduct their operations at wholesale. 
 
 As he sat there, musing, he heard a voice out- 
 side inquiring for him, and a minute later the door 
 was pushed open to admit a young man who wore 
 glasses and carried a cane. 
 
 "Good-morning," said the newcomer, although 
 it was now late in the afternoon. "Is there any- 
 thing new?" 
 
 "Not a thing that I know of," replied Gardwell. 
 "Take a seat, have a cigar; " and he reached for 
 a drawer, but not the one that he had opened a 
 moment before. 
 
 "What's new?" asked the visitor again, 
 abruptly. 
 
 "It's very quiet." 
 
 "How about a receivership?" 
 
 "A receivership?" Gardwell turned in sur- 
 prise. 
 
 " Yes, " said the reporter of the " Morning Watch- 
 
20 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 man," for such he was. " A New York special says 
 that a great Western road is soon to be put into 
 the hands of a receiver. Is it the American?" 
 
 Gardwell laughed. "My dear fellow," said he, 
 "the Trans-American is the last road in this coun- 
 try that would go into the hands of a receiver. 
 What in the world should we go into the hands of 
 a receiver for? Did you see our last annual re- 
 port?" 
 
 "I saw it," said the reporter, "but I only ask; 
 I have to ask these questions, you know." 
 
 "It's all right to ask such questions, but don't 
 get any such idea in your head, my dear boy, or 
 into your paper either, by the way. Don't write 
 anything about that; we don't want any such story 
 started about this road." 
 
 "I won't write anything, because I haven't got 
 anything," was the reply. 
 
 The reporter arose to go, and as he was walking 
 out, Gardwell said: "And by the way, Marx, I '11 
 be out of the city for several days. You needn't 
 say anything about it, though, if you please. I 
 am going off on private business, down to Chio- 
 polis, you know." 
 
 Gardwell dictated a couple of letters into a 
 phonograph, and then touching a button, which 
 called a clerk into his room, handed the cylinders 
 to him. "Take those to Miss Mullins, and tell 
 her that I shall not want them until morning." 
 Then he closed his desk, and putting on his hat 
 and coat walked into the adjoining office. "I 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 21 
 
 am going out to Bowerville for a day or so towards 
 the end of this week," he said to his secretary, 
 "and I don't want anybo^r to know where I have 
 gone. I have spoken to Marx about it, and he 
 will not print anything. You will throw the other 
 reporters off as best you can. Tell them I am 
 in Chiopolis attending to some private busi- 
 ness. Notify Stalker to get all the papers ready 
 in that case of ours on the Stallworth County 
 calendar, and also tell young Bracy to meet me 
 at the four o'clock train on Thursday afternoon. 
 Good-by." 
 
 Gardwell twirled up the corners of his mustache 
 as he rode down in the elevator, emerging from 
 which with a light and jaunty step he went to the 
 club. When he had removed his hat and coat and 
 strolled into the main room, he was greeted by 
 three men seated at a table. 
 
 "Ah, here is Gardwell," cried one of them; 
 "now we will have a game. We have been wait- 
 ing for you for half an hour. We want you for 
 a rub at whist." 
 
 "That will suit me," Gardwell said, taking a 
 seat at the table. "Oh, you needn't do that," he 
 continued, as one of the party began throwing 
 around for partners, "the judge and I will play 
 together." 
 
 Judge Frezett, of the federal bench, blandly 
 smiled his approval of this arrangement, and get- 
 ting up exchanged seats with one of the other gen- 
 tlemen. He was notoriously one of the poorest 
 
22 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 whist players in the club, and Gardwell was ac- 
 knowledged the best. 
 
 "What shall we do with these fellows, judge?" 
 asked Gardwell, laughing. 
 
 "Oh, let 's give them a fair trial before condemn- 
 ing them." 
 
 "Good ! " put in one of the "fellows" referred 
 to. "Why don't you adopt that sort of practice 
 in your court, judge? " 
 
 The judge smiled. Mr. President Bond, of the 
 Sixth National Bank, was meanwhile dealing the 
 cards and continuing some remarks upon the 
 financial situation, which had been interrupted by 
 Gardwell' s arrival, concluding both at the same 
 time with, "Money will be easier next week. 
 Clubs are trumps." 
 
 The strength of Gard well's game at whist con- 
 sisted in first knowing what sort of a player his 
 partner was, and then adapting his own play 
 thereto without regard to rules and conventionali- 
 ties prescribed by the books. He was thoroughly 
 versed in the scientific intricacies of the game, and 
 was usually a great stickler for the prescribed 
 leads. Nevertheless, when occasion required, he 
 could bend to the level of the most erratic "bum- 
 blepuppist," and his play on these occasions both 
 deceived and confounded his adversaries. 
 
 Each side had scored a game and the cards had 
 been dealt for the rubber. It was Judge Frezett's 
 lead. He led a king. Gardwell hesitated a mo- 
 ment, as if studying his hand, and then coolly 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 23 
 
 killed his partner's king with the ace and returned 
 the lead. He had sat opposite Judge Frezett 
 often enough to know that the judge had led a 
 singleton, and that the greatest discourtesy he 
 could be guilty of would be to deprive the judge 
 of the opportunity of taking tricks with his little 
 trumps. Moreover, he had a missing suit himself 
 and was strong in trumps. 
 
 Their opponents looked at each other in aston- 
 ishment, but played "whist." 
 
 As chance would have it, the judge's second 
 lead struck Gard well's missing suit, thus develop- 
 ing a cross-ruff, which was straightway worked 
 for six tricks, all told. The other seven were 
 sharply contested, but all went the same way. 
 
 "A thirteener, by Jove ! " exclaimed the judge, 
 excitedly bringing his fist down on the table, and 
 pushing back his chair. 
 
 Meantime Gardwell had risen and walked round 
 to the judge, to whom, extending his hand, he said 
 in his quiet* way, " You played your hand to per- 
 fection, judge, I congrat " 
 
 "What! " interrupted Bond, "do you mean to 
 say that in leading the singleton " 
 
 "I mean to say that the judge played exactly 
 right he generally does." 
 
 "Pshaw, Gardwell, you know that the books 
 all teach, and experience confirms it, that leading 
 a singleton " 
 
 "There is one axiom in whist, Mr. Bond, which 
 you seem to forget, and that is ' When you see a 
 
24 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 way to win, take that way, no matter what the 
 conventional guide-posts say.' All rules stand 
 second to the fall of the cards." 
 
 "Yes," said the judge, u and there's an old 
 Latin maxim which is also applicable here : ' Finis 
 coronat opus.' We took the whole thirteen tricks; 
 what more do you want?" and he rubbed his hands 
 gleefully. 
 
 "You are better posted in Latin, judge, than in 
 the American leads," replied Bond. 
 
 The judge joined in the general laugh which 
 followed this good-natured retort, and taking Gard- 
 well by the arm turned to go. 
 
 "By the way," said Gardwell, turning again, 
 "who knows where I can procure a collection of 
 butterflies?" 
 
 The banker knew of a collection that had been 
 exhibited at the state fair the previous year, and 
 was able to put Gardwell in the way of finding it. 
 
 As the two were passing out, the judge was 
 overheard saying to Gardwell : 
 
 "So you think I played that last hand about 
 right, do you? A thirteener ! he ! he ! he ! " 
 
 The vanquished two, still sitting at the table 
 with the recorded evidence of their defeat between 
 them, looked into each other's faces in silence for 
 a moment, and then suddenly burst into laughter. 
 
 "I wonder why it is," said the banker, "that 
 Gardwell, who plays as good whist as any of us, 
 always takes Frezett for a partner of late the 
 judge can't play a little bit." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 25 
 
 "And I wonder what on earth he wants of a 
 collection of butterflies," was the reply. Then, 
 looking around the room as if to be sure he was 
 not being overheard, he leaned forward and con- 
 tinued, rather hesitatingly, in an undertone, "I 
 have heard it said that Elliot Gardwell never over- 
 looks a bet." 
 
 The president of the Sixth National Bank 
 flushed. 
 
 "Gardwell is as straight as a string," he said. 
 " He is a very keen and sagacious man in his busi- 
 ness affairs, but perfectly straight, I assure you." 
 
 Elliot Gardwell's balance in the Sixth National 
 Bank at that moment was expressed by six figures 
 on the bank ledger. But that has nothing to do 
 with this story, and neither, for the matter of 
 that, has this game of whist ; though recorded 
 together here they incidentally give an idea of 
 some of the varied resources of this remarkable 
 man. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 "WELL, Rufus," said the judge as they drove 
 away from the house, "I don't think we shall have 
 a long grind this term; there doesn't appear to be 
 a great deal on the calendar." 
 
 "Nothing of much account but that case of 
 Farmer Barnsted's against the railroad," replied 
 Rufus. "Reckon it won't take him long to get 
 a verdict, either. Three haystacks, a woodshed, 
 and the barn. That was a right smart of a fire, 
 that was." 
 
 "And how often it happens," observed the judge, 
 more to himself than to Rufus, "that a verdict in 
 the lower court fails to rebuild a burned barn or 
 to furnish a recompense for the loss of a limb. If 
 Barnsted wins here, his fight is only just begun. 
 Too much law and too little equity is too often seen 
 where a big corporation is a party in the case." 
 
 Rufus was used to hearing the judge soliloquize, 
 and he had learned by experience that it ill be- 
 hooved him to assume that the judge's remarks 
 were addressed to him. 
 
 Judge Dunn's court opened on that day just as 
 it had on many a day before. The dull routine 
 began, and, settling into that droning buzz which 
 forms a part of the county legal machinery in 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 27 
 
 motion, this little mill of justice ground the grist 
 allotted to it. In the rear row of chairs was Elliot 
 Gardwell and young Bracy, whom he had brought 
 to appear for the company in the Barnsted case. 
 Gardwell sat with his eyes half closed, and a little 
 smile on his face. How stupid it all was ! What 
 an insignificant obstacle this judge, his court, and 
 his bucolic following should he but desire to brush 
 them aside ! 
 
 "A field-mouse in front of a locomotive," he 
 thought, and he smiled at the conceit. 
 
 Court adjourned at noon, and Gardwell arose, 
 and going forward met the judge just as he was de- 
 scending from the bench. He introduced himself. 
 
 "Glad to meet you, Mr. Gardwell," said the 
 judge. "I believe I had the pleasure of being 
 introduced to you at the state convention five years 
 ago. But I do not suppose you remember me; 
 you met so many delegates on that occasion." 
 
 "Indeed I do," replied Gardwell, with one of 
 his smiles ; " it was in the cigar store next to the 
 Vista Hotel, at eleven o'clock in the morning, an 
 hour before the convention assembled. Legler, of 
 La Crosse, introduced us. And if I remember 
 correctly, you did as you said you would, and 
 helped to defeat Emmit. Am I right? " 
 
 "You have a retentive memory," the judge re- 
 plied. "This is your first visit to Bowerville, is 
 it not? Well, every man is proud of his home 
 town, and should be, and I will take pleasure in 
 showing you about. We have a fine country 
 
28 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 around here, with little patches here and there that 
 will remind you of your Eastern country." 
 
 The two men chatted for a few minutes, and 
 when the judge invited him to dinner in the even- 
 ing, he gladly accepted. Before they parted Gard- 
 well was introduced to Robert Emmersley, a young 
 lawyer, who was of the counsel for t}ie plaintiff in 
 the Barnsted case. 
 
 Gardwell, Emmersley and young Bracy, Gard- 
 well's assistant, went to lunch together at the 
 hotel. The conversation was not an animated 
 one. Gardwell did not care to talk much in the 
 presence of his young subordinate, and Emmersley, 
 to tell the truth, was somewhat awed in the pres- 
 ence of this man of whom he had heard so much, 
 and with whom he differed so radically. Robert 
 Emmersley was a young lawyer, but he had ideas 
 beyond the law and outside its channel. He had 
 made something of a study of social economy, and 
 had contributed a number of articles to the local 
 paper, besides having once appeared in one of the 
 Eastern magazines. He had worked his way 
 through college, and had there laid the basis of 
 that spirit of sturdy self-reliance in his character 
 which was fast making him a leader in the little 
 community in which he lived. He could not be 
 called handsome, but there was a frankness in his 
 expression and a light in his blue eyes that in- 
 spired confidence. A trifle over six feet in height, 
 large boned and loose jointed, he struck one at 
 first glance as being awkward. But when he 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 29 
 
 moved this thought was dispelled, for he exhibited 
 an agile grace that was surprising in one so large 
 framed. He had curly blond hair, which he wore 
 quite long, and a crisp mustache of the same 
 shade. He was twenty-eight years old, was equally 
 famous, in the country about, for his athletic 
 prowess and his skill in debate, and was rapidly 
 gaining a political following that caused some of 
 the older men in the district to pay him marked 
 attention. 
 
 After the lunch Gardwell felt in a pleasant 
 mood, and invited the young men to have a cigar 
 
 with him. 
 
 r 
 
 "What kind will you have?" asked the clerk, 
 as they stood leaning on the show-case. 
 
 "Oh, something fairly good," said Gardwell, 
 throwing a half-dollar on the case. "Three for a 
 half." 
 
 "The best we 've got," replied the clerk, "are 
 two for a quarter." 
 
 Gardwell laughed. "Very well," he said, "but 
 you will not do any too well, my young friend, if 
 you persist in being so honest. Always give a 
 man what he asks for and ask no questions." 
 
 He spoke in a jocular tone, but Emmersley 
 made the mental comment that he doubtless prac- 
 ticed what he preached in larger deals than those 
 involving the transfer of cigars. 
 
 "I suppose the judge's man will be at the court- 
 house at one o'clock," said Gardwell. "I so 
 understood him." 
 
30 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 Kufus was waiting when they reached the court- 
 house. They had not driven a mile before Gard- 
 well had succeeded in gaining the entire confidence 
 of his rustic guide. At first Rufus had answered 
 in monosyllables and showed an abashment strangely 
 out of keeping with his ordinary manners. It took 
 Gardwell only a few moments to appreciate the 
 situation, and with his customary tact he soon had 
 Rufus at perfect ease and pouring forth a stream 
 of words. "Ah," thought Gardwell, with a faint 
 smile, "very little about the private affairs of 
 Judge Dunn but I '11 know inside of half an hour." 
 And his surmise was correct. 
 
 "Yes," said Rufus, "I 've been with the family 
 nigh ont' twenty years. I ain't exactly related to 
 the judge, but my sister and his wife's sister both 
 married into the Bogart family, the Bogarts of 
 Sackville, you know, and so we 're kinder con- 
 nected, don't you see?" 
 
 Gardwell saw, or at least he so indicated by a 
 "Yes?" delivered with that rising inflection which 
 he sometimes used in the polite circles in which he 
 moved in Malton. 
 
 "The judge is a fine man, I tell you, Mr. Gard- 
 well, but he 's terribly set in his ways, and when 
 he once puts his foot down you can't budge him. 
 Still, he don't get sot as often as he used to. I 've 
 seen it growing on him for the last two or three 
 years, and he 's getting milder and milder. Don't 
 just remember when he last set his foot down real 
 hard. But I can look back and remember when 
 he did, and he 's liable to do it yet at any minute." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 31 
 
 "Has he a large family?" inquired Gardwell. 
 
 "No," said Rufus, "only his wife and Harriet. 
 That is, there was a boy, too, but they don't ever 
 mention him." 
 
 "Lost one of his children, did he?" 
 
 "Well, you can't exactly say lost, 'cause he's 
 liable to come back any time, I suppose. We 
 have been waiting for him for the last nine years." 
 
 "Oh, the boy ran away from home, did he?" 
 queried Gardwell carelessly. 
 
 "Well, he didn't exactly run away. The judge 
 kinder well, now, you mus' n't let on, Mr. Gard- 
 well, if I tell you about that, will you? There 
 ain't much said about it, you know." 
 
 "Oh, I'll not say anything," said Gardwell 
 assuringly. "You can depend on me for that." 
 
 "Well, it 's about nine years ago. Young Tom 
 was fourteen years old, and getting to be a purty 
 wild sort of boy; had a good deal of the old man's 
 spirit in him ; I used to know Judge Dunn when 
 he was a boy, you know. This kid had purty 
 much the same old streak. Well, he did some- 
 thing his father told him not to no use going 
 into particulars at any rate the judge scolded 
 him for doing something at the supper-table one 
 night. Tom, he denied it. The judge says, 
 ' Don't deny that, son; you did do it.' ' But I 
 didn't,' says Tom, spunking up. 'I don't want 
 to hear you say that again, ' says the judge. ' But 
 I did n't, ' says the boy. The judge, he rose right 
 up from the table, catched Tom by the ear, and 
 
32 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 marched him to the door. He opened the door, 
 put him out kinder gruffly, and then says, says 
 he, ' Don't you ever dare to come back here until 
 you can tell me the truth,' an' he shut the door 
 and went back to his place. Harriet was a little 
 bit of a thing then, and Mrs. Dunn, she was scared 
 to death, and didn't dast say a word. When the 
 table was cleared off that night she left his plate 
 there, thinking maybe he would come back and be 
 pretty hungry. But he didn't come. So next 
 morning she put the plate on for breakfast again, 
 but there w r as no signs of Tom. It was the same 
 thing at noon an' the plate was there, but the 
 judge hadn't nary a word to say. Mrs. Dunn, 
 she did n't say anything either. It went along for 
 several days till finally the judge blurted out all at 
 once and says, ' Mary, what is that plate doing 
 there?' 
 
 " ' That plate is waiting for Tom, ' says Mrs. 
 Dunn in a way I never heard her speak before. 
 It was cold as ice. I was out in the kitchen and 
 heard every word. ' I don't want to see that plate 
 there any more, Mary, ' says the judge. ' If that 
 boy is fool enough to stay away from a good home, 
 we are not to blame. I don't want any more of 
 this nonsense.' Then Mrs. Dunn spunked up. 
 It 's the first time and the last time I ever heard 
 her do it in my life. 'Tracy,' says she, 'that 
 plate is going to stay there as long as I stay in 
 this house, and when that plate is no longer at the 
 table, I '11 be at the table no longer. ' It sort of 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 33 
 
 took the judge's breath away, and he just looked 
 at her in surprise. He tried to say something, 
 but when he started in she shut him right up as 
 quick as you please, and repeated just what she 
 said before, and I '11 never forget it, 4 That plate 
 is going to stay there at our table until my boy 
 comes back.' Since that time Mrs. Dunn has 
 never been like she used to be before that. She 
 is pleasant enough, but she 's never laughed since 
 that time. She used to be the laughiest and romp- 
 iest sort of a young woman, just like a girl, more 
 than a married woman and the mother of two chil- 
 dren." 
 
 "And they never heard anything of the boy?" 
 asked Gardwell. "Has the judge never tried to 
 find him?" 
 
 "Nope, not him," said Kufus. "I don't be- 
 lieve now he 'd go across the road to hunt him up; 
 he is that set when he once gets set, and he is set 
 on that, although it will be a happy day for him 
 if ever Tom comes back. Oh, I reckon he '11 come 
 back; anyhow Mrs. Dunn believes he will, and I 
 kinder do, too." 
 
 "It's the old Puritan blood," thought Gard- 
 well. Then he resumed his questions: "But the 
 daughter, she must be nearly grown up now." 
 
 "Oh, laws, yes," said Rufus; "Harriet is a 
 great big girl, eighteen, going on nineteen. She 's 
 been off to boar din '-school and just come back last 
 spring. Lord, but she 's a han'some gal; I never 
 seen a han'somer in my life. And smart, too. 
 
34 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 Knows a heap of things that she learned in books 
 Down East, when she went to boar din '-school. 
 The judge hain't got much money, but he made 
 up his mind that Harriet should get a good edica- 
 tion. He intended to do the same thing by Tom, 
 and so I guess he is trying to make up by seeing 
 that Harriet gets all the edication, seeing that 
 Tom lost his chance," 
 
 "Nineteen years old and handsome," said Gard- 
 well. "Some likely young fellow will be coming 
 along and marrying her before long." 
 
 "Oh, yes; that won't be long," replied Rufus. 
 "Fact is, I think, as most of the neighbors do, 
 that Emmersley, the lawyer that you was here 
 with, has got the inside track. He 's sort a-snoop- 
 ing around here, and from what I see, I think 
 Harriet is kinder sweet on him." 
 
 "Engaged?" asked Gardwell. 
 
 "Oh, no, 't ain't got along that far yet, but they 
 show signs." 
 
 "Emmersley appears to be a very promising 
 young man," said Gardwell, as a sort of a feeler. 
 
 "Oh, he 's smart," Rufus replied, "but the law 
 ain't his best holt. Oh, no, indeed. He 's way up 
 on economy and such things. Why, he can tell you 
 how much it costs the government to run, and how 
 much they ought to pay all such things, and 
 how much is being ground out of the people by 
 corporations. Oh, I beg pardon. I forgot that 
 you was one of those corporations folks." 
 
 "Go on," said Gardwell. "I like to hear about 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 35 
 
 it. So he thinks corporations are the ruin of the 
 world, does he?" 
 
 "Well, he thinks that they well, I don't know 
 exactly I read a couple of articles he wrote for 
 the ' Bowerville Gazette, ' and they are mighty con- 
 vincing. He 's got lots of people 'round this part 
 of the country, too, that believe a good deal what 
 he says. He makes a speech once in a while. 
 He belongs to a club out here that investigates 
 things." 
 
 "He's a bright young man," said Gardwell. 
 "That's excellent capital to get married oh a 
 glib tongue and a disposition to use it to rail 
 against the existing order of things." 
 
 By a few adroit questions he speedily shifted 
 the conversation and started Rufus upon the theme 
 of Bowerville, a theme that he knew by heart. 
 
 It rarely fell to the lot of Rufus to have so good 
 a listener as Gardwell, who, as his garrulous guide 
 reeled off a volume of data concerning the little 
 town and its people, sorted it over in his mind as 
 it came from the reel, casting most of it aside, but 
 now and then treasuring up some fact or circum- 
 stance for future use. Meanwhile the bracing 
 country air gave him a glow such as he had not 
 experienced for years; so that, all in all, he felt 
 that he had spent a more profitable afternoon than 
 he had anticipated when he accepted the judge's 
 offer placing Rufus and the horse at his disposal. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 GAKDWELL had now formed a pretty clear esti- 
 mate of Judge Dunn's character from his own 
 observation, from what he had heard about town, 
 and from what Eufus had told him. He was also 
 mildly interested in Emmersley, but it was not a 
 spirit of friendly interest. He labeled him men- 
 tally, and placed him in the category with certain 
 men in the city who made a business of railing at 
 corporations, the money power, and large employers 
 of labor in general. He threw them all together, 
 anarchists, socialists, labor unions, agitators and 
 reformers, for the whole lot of whom he had a 
 profound contempt tempered with small pity. He 
 felt that two thirds of them were insincere, and 
 that the other one third could be reached by vari- 
 ous influences should occasion require. He was 
 fortified in this opinion by his own experience, 
 covering a period of ten years. He considered 
 Emmersley as dangerous, but not viciously so. 
 He knew that young men of his type, vigorous, 
 courageous and intelligent, were making them- 
 selves felt in the political world, and that happen- 
 ings in the political world were of direct interest 
 to him, inasmuch as they created legislative bodies, 
 which in turn made laws that were growing to be 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 37 
 
 very essential to corporations. A law passed at 
 a time when needed often proved an absolution for 
 all the past sins of a corporation, and made it pos- 
 sible for the corporation managers to pursue their 
 old policy and at the same time sin no more in 
 the eyes of the law. Such men as young Emmers- 
 ley, when found in legislative bodies, oftentimes 
 proved serious stumbling-blocks to men like Gard- 
 well. He pitied Emmersley and his kind, because 
 it seemed to him that young men with talents and 
 industry could make so much more of what is 
 termed "a success in life" by being on the other 
 side. 
 
 But his concern about Emmersley was only a 
 passing thought. He was like a mounted swords- 
 man, traversing a lonely highway through a dis- 
 trict infested by robbers armed with bludgeons 
 so long as the robbers kept the hedges they were 
 of no concern to the horseman; but should they 
 assail him, he would brush them aside. So long 
 as Emmersley did not block Gardwell's path he 
 might go on forever doing as he pleased; but 
 should he obstruct the way, why, he would have 
 to be brushed aside or crushed. That was all 
 there was to it. 
 
 Gardwell and Rufus had returned from their 
 ride before court had adjourned, and Gardwell, 
 having alighted, turned and offered Rufus a silver 
 dollar. Rufus, supposing that Gardwell wished 
 to shake hands, extended his own, but when he 
 saw the coin drew back. 
 
38 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "I don't want it. I don't want it," lie repeated, 
 shrinking from it as if its touch meant pollution. 
 
 Gardwell laughed. 
 
 "Tut, tut, my good man," he said; "never be 
 afraid to take money when it is freely tendered." 
 
 But Rufus shook his head, screwed up his eyes, 
 and compressed his lips. 
 
 "Why, what is the matter?" exclaimed Gard- 
 well, somewhat piqued. "Do you imagine I'm 
 bribing you? Here, take it." 
 
 "I 'm much obliged, Mr. Gardwell," said Rufus, 
 "but I don't want it said I ever took a cent of 
 money from a corporation unless I earned it, and 
 I ain't done nothing for you to-day. It 's Judge 
 Dunn's horse and buggy anyw r ay, and if you insist 
 on 't I '11 take the money and turn it over to him." 
 
 Gardwell put the piece of silver back into his 
 pocket. "You are a worthy man, Rufus," he 
 said, "a very worthy man, and I respect your feel- 
 ings. Beware of corporations, and never let them 
 get their clutches on you if you can help it." He 
 turned and walked away. "A veritable Arcadia 
 is this Bowerville," he muttered as he ascended 
 the steps of the court-house. "A place where 
 cigar clerks emulate the juvenile Washington, and 
 hired men see bribery in every tip. Verily the 
 judge has wielded a mighty influence," and Gard- 
 well laughed a laugh that was more than half - 
 sneer. 
 
 The court was still in session, and a lawyer was 
 addressing the jury in a loud voice, and fanning 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 39 
 
 the air with his arms. Immediately after adjourn- 
 ment, the judge came down from the bench and 
 shook hands with Gardwell, who had advanced to 
 meet him. 
 
 "How did you enjoy your ride?" asked the 
 judge. 
 
 "Very much indeed; I never had a pleasanter 
 afternoon," said Gardwell. "You live in a beau- 
 tiful place, and the surrounding country is, if any- 
 thing, more beautiful than the town." 
 
 The judge, Gardwell and Emmersley walked 
 up together, it being somewhat early. Eufus 
 brought down the judge's bundle of books, and, 
 driving a little rapidly, was home some time ahead 
 of them. 
 
 "That Gardwell is a millionaire," said he, ad- 
 dressing Betsy as he entered the kitchen. "He 's 
 worth millions and millions of dollars, so the judge 
 says, and I tell you he is a fine gentleman. He 
 and I have been together all this afternoon, and 
 we had a fine talk, you can bet." 
 
 "We ! " sniffed Betsy. "We ! indeed ! well, he 
 must be a good one if he can get a word in edge- 
 wise with you. Bet you did all the talking." 
 
 "No, I didn't; no, sir ! and after I got through 
 and got to the court-house, what do you suppose 
 he offered me?" 
 
 "I don't know." 
 
 "Offered me a big silver dollar." 
 
 "Eufus Pease," said Betsy, setting down a stew- 
 pan, and looking hard at Rufus, "I hope you 
 
40 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 spurned him. If you didn't, you needn't ever 
 speak to me again." 
 
 "That 's just what I did," said Rufus. "I told 
 him to put back his money, that I would n't ever 
 take money of a corporation. Goodness, but he 
 did look put out. I didn't take so awful much 
 stock in what Emmersley said about those fellows, 
 but here it was, the first thing, offering me a 
 bribe." And Rufus straightened up, and looked 
 upon himself as a very worthy and righteous man; 
 and so did Betsy, for that matter. 
 
 When the three men arrived, the judge intro- 
 duced his wife and daughter to Gardwell, who 
 bowed very low, and at once entered into that 
 small-talk of which he was such a master when 
 occasion demanded. They stood chatting under 
 a great elm until the clang of an old-fashioned 
 dinner-bell sounded from the dining-room, when 
 the judge remarked : 
 
 "Well, folks, dinner is ready; Betsy is always 
 prompt never a minute behind or a minute 
 ahead," and he led the way to the house, Gardwell 
 offering his arm to Mrs. Dunn, and Emmersley 
 and Harriet following. When fairly seated at 
 the table, Gardwell launched into a light and 
 pleasing discourse on the topics of the day. He 
 could be extremely entertaining when he wished, 
 and he had special reasons for wishing it on this 
 occasion. He complimented Bowerville, and went 
 into ecstasies over the scenery of the surrounding 
 country. He spoke of the leading men of the 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 41 
 
 country as personal acquaintances, interspersing 
 here and there little anecdotes concerning his per- 
 sonal relations with them, in all of which he fig- 
 ured very modestly. To the ladies he was espe- 
 cially attentive, and it did not escape his observant 
 eye that Rufus had in no way exaggerated the per- 
 sonal charms of Miss Harriet. 
 
 Gardwell had a wonderful way with women. 
 His style of speech with them was widely different 
 from that used by him when conversing with men. 
 Some women distrusted him, it is true, but he 
 was fascinating to them all at times; and even 
 those whose worldly wisdom or instinct warned 
 them of danger lurking in the smile of that won- 
 derful mouth felt powerless to offer a rebuff, no 
 matter what his eyes seemed about to say. Not 
 that they did say anything, but they always seemed 
 on the point of doing so; and it was the women of 
 experience who were in most of a flutter when 
 Gardwell took it into his head to pay them atten- 
 tion, whether at the dinner-table, in the ballroom, 
 or at other social functions. He humbled himself 
 to women paid them a sort of homage, though 
 there was a something in his eye, back of it all, 
 that seemed to say, "To you and you alone I bow." 
 
 Mrs. Dunn softened to him at once, but Harriet 
 was very quiet and reserved. She grew more con- 
 fident after a little, however, and threw several 
 sharp glances at the handsome stranger, so unlike 
 any man she had ever met before. Gardwell in 
 turn looked hard at the girl, and once their eyes 
 
42 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 met. The blood rushed to Harriet's face, and 
 Gardwell immediately diverted attention by turn- 
 ing to the judge with the question : 
 
 "Are you really so much opposed to all corpo- 
 rations as people say you are? " 
 
 It was a bold move, and one that a man less 
 daring and with less confidence in his own powers 
 would not have ventured under the circumstances. 
 Swift as it was, however, it was not quick enough 
 to escape the attention of Emmersley, who had 
 seen the look from Gardwell and the blush that 
 swept over Harriet's face as she bent over her tea. 
 
 The judge turned a searching look at the auda- 
 cious guest, and the point of his beard advanced 
 with a jerk which told to Gardwell' s acute eye that 
 the owner had set his jaws. 
 
 "I beg your pardon, judge," he continued, before 
 a reply could be made to the question, "I some- 
 times think aloud, and this was one of the times; 
 but now that I have gone so far, I may as well go 
 ahead. I took a stroll about your beautiful town 
 this morning, and found that the small case which 
 we have in court here is the one topic of conversa- 
 tion. What impressed me was the fact that all 
 who talked of it closed by declaring that if there 
 was one place on earth where a corporation could 
 not get an undue advantage, it was in Judge 
 Dunn's court. I could not dispute that assertion, 
 and yet, on the other hand, I could not recall any 
 rulings on your part that warranted the reputation 
 that your fellow townsmen give you. To hear 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 43 
 
 them talk one would suppose that you were of the 
 Kansas Populist type. But do not let us get into 
 the discussion of so dry a subject, for it will cer- 
 tainly be tiresome to the ladies. I again apologize 
 for the imprudent question I move that it be 
 stricken from the record." 
 
 "The motion is overruled," said the judge, "and 
 it will stand. The question was a frank one, and 
 shall have a frank answer. I am not down on 
 corporations in the abstract, but I confess that in 
 my opinion there is a decided tendency on their 
 part to assume powers beyond what the framers of 
 the Constitution and the early lawmakers intended, 
 and to make use of the wealth which they control 
 in ways which will not bear the scrutiny of honest 
 men. They take every point which the law allows 
 them, and then add a few more obtained by the 
 use of money generally, I must confess, in an 
 indirect way, though none the less blameworthy 
 because they do not violate any law on the statute 
 books. The effect is the same on the poor litigant 
 who may be seeking justice, with a corporation 
 and all its forces arrayed against him. In so far 
 as I have always tried in my court to preserve an 
 equilibrium, and to curtail as much as possible the 
 use of what I deem improper advantages on the 
 part of corporations, I have been ' down on corpo- 
 rations,' but no farther." 
 
 Gardwell listened respectfully, and when the 
 judge had finished said: "I would that the same 
 spirit of fairness was universal. You, however, 
 
44 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 see only one side of the question or, rather, you do 
 not see things as we see them from our stand- 
 point," he added, with a smile. 
 
 "I hope I see them as an intelligent man and 
 a judicial officer should see them," replied Judge 
 Dunn, straightening up. 
 
 "Undoubtedly, but how often have we seen a 
 jury, influenced by the claptrap of some pettifog- 
 ging attorney against a corporation, bring in a 
 verdict which was founded on prejudice, and which 
 was unsupported either by law or evidence." 
 
 "The prejudice that has grown up in the minds 
 of the people," replied the judge, "is the natural 
 child of the corporation, begotten by the policy of 
 greed and oppression practiced by rich corpora- 
 tions. What is more, this child grows stronger 
 every day christen it what you will, Virtuous 
 Indignation or Prejudice." 
 
 "Well," resumed Gardwell, "we would be only 
 too willing to strangle the child, and henceforth 
 adjust all differences according to the strict letter 
 of the law." 
 
 "The law is a broad term," replied the judge. 
 "Law is oftentimes not equity, and that which is 
 not equity the people will never accept as the law, 
 even though it is crammed down their throats by 
 the supreme court." 
 
 The others had not spoken during this tilt ; and 
 Gardwell, like a boxer who has felt of his antago- 
 nist by making a few leads to discover the force of 
 the counter, was content not to push matters fur- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 45 
 
 ther. He saw, as he had anticipated, that Judge 
 Dunn's position could never be carried by direct 
 assault ; and outside of a desire to be on good terms 
 with him, as he was with most of the judges in the 
 State, he really cared very little what Judge Dunn 
 thought or did, for that matter. He had come to 
 Bowerville as the result of a sudden impulse, some- 
 thing which he rarely acted upon, and, after all, he 
 wanted nothing beyond the friendship of the judge. 
 Friendship was a seed that Gardwell delighted to 
 plant, and none knew better than he what rich 
 fruit it sometimes bore when least expected. He 
 had sized up the judge, and he resolved to enter 
 into no more discussions of the question in the 
 future, and to bring this one to a close. 
 
 "I cry ' Peccavi,' " he said, with a laugh, "and 
 ask that you suspend sentence. I have already 
 been punished enough for having brought this 
 subject up. To tell the truth, I have not been 
 paying the strictest attention for the last few 
 moments, as my eyes have been feasting upon a 
 picture, the subject of which has a peculiar fasci- 
 nation for me," and he looked over Harriet's head 
 at a water-color hanging on the wall. It was a 
 picture of several butterflies in bright colors. 
 
 "It is one of Harriet's, and fairly well done," 
 said the judge, "although she has not been strictly 
 true to nature." 
 
 "Again I differ with you," answered Gardwell, 
 "and this time I can do so without running the 
 risk of being impolite. I think they are remark- 
 
46 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 ably true to nature. Now, for instance, I can 
 pick them out and tell each variety. There is the 
 Banded Purple, Basilarchia arthemis ; the Red 
 Spotted Purple, Basilarchia astyanax, with the 
 upper surface of its wings a velvety indigo-black 
 tinged with bluish green. Then there is the Red 
 Admiral, Vanessa atalanta. If anything, the 
 orange-colored band on the forewing is hardly 
 bright enough, although most people would think 
 it was an exaggeration. Nothing could be more 
 perfect than that little Euptoieta claudia. In 
 conformation the apex of the forewing is perfect." 
 
 Judge Dunn's eyes glowed while Gardwell was 
 speaking, Mrs. Dunn had a pleased look on her 
 face, and Harriet's eyes danced with joy. It was 
 all that the judge could do to refrain from inter- 
 rupting Gardwell; and when he paused for an in- 
 stant and looked around, the judge exclaimed : 
 
 "You take an interest in butterflies? You 
 speak as one who knows the order Lepidoptera 
 very well." 
 
 "Do I take an interest in butterflies ?" cried 
 Gardwell enthusiastically. "Why, that is about 
 the only thing I do care about. To-day, while 
 out driving with your man, it was all I could do 
 to keep my seat in the buggy, and it took some 
 little self-restraint, I assure you, to keep myself 
 from hopping over fences and across fields after as 
 choice a specimen of the Hybrid Purple, Basilar- 
 chia astyanax-arthemis, as I ever saw in my life. 
 It was a straggler, and you know they abound 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 47 
 
 only along a narrow belt of country extending 
 through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois 
 eastward to the coast. I can see it yet, with the 
 white band it had gotten from the Banded Purple, 
 flashing in the sunlight." 
 
 "Well, well," said the judge, "you and I have 
 struck a topic on which we can have many an ar- 
 gument, but upon which there can be no disagree- 
 ment or ill feeling. I am passionately fond of 
 butterflies myself, and I flatter myself that I have 
 as fine a collection as you will find in the West." 
 
 "I have a few butterflies myself," said Gardwell 
 modestly, "and, by the way, that reminds me," he 
 continued, reaching into his pocket, and extract- 
 ing a package addressed to him, the seal of which 
 had not been broken " that reminds me that I 
 received a package just before I left the office. It 
 looks very much as though it might be a specimen, 
 although I am not certain." He broke the seal, 
 and lifting the cover of a tin box revealed a but- 
 terfly of monstrous size. He gazed at it in rapt 
 admiration for a moment, and then exclaimed : 
 
 "Ah, it is the Black Witch, Erebus odora, a 
 specimen I have been looking for for some time." 
 
 He passed it over to the judge. An exclama- 
 tion of admiration sprang from the judge's lips. 
 
 "Isn't it magnificent ! " an adjective which he 
 reserved solely for butterflies. 
 
 Gardwell and the judge were soon engaged in 
 an animated discussion on butterflies and their 
 habits, and they were speedily entangled in an 
 
48 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 argument concerning the specimen which Gardwell 
 had brought with him. 
 
 One contended that the Black Witch bred only 
 in the West Indies, while the other was positive 
 that this was not strictly true, but that the moth 
 frequently bred in the southern part of the United 
 States. At the height of the argument, the judge 
 broke into laughter for very joy over his new ac- 
 quaintance, and Gardwell said : 
 
 "Well, here we go again, leaving the ladies and 
 Mr. Emmersley to play the part of silent listen- 
 ers." 
 
 "You do not know how glad I am to meet a 
 man who has made a study of the interesting fam- 
 ily Lepidoptera," said Judge Dunn, "but come; 
 I want to take you up to my butterfly study. I 
 think you will enjoy an hour or so there." 
 
 As they rose from the table, he turned to Em- 
 mersley and added: "Never mind, Emmersley, 
 you can stay down here with the ladies. I have 
 had you up there often enough, but I never could 
 get you interested in my pets. Now I have got 
 a man after my own heart. Right this way, Mr. 
 Gardwell," and he led the way to the staircase. 
 
 Quite content to heed the instructions of his 
 host, Emmersley followed the ladies into the par- 
 lor. 
 
 Emmersley was usually an entertaining compan- 
 ion for Mrs. Dunn, as well as for Harriet, but to- 
 night he was strangely moody and silent. Mrs. 
 Dunn noticed this, and thinking that perhaps he 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 49 
 
 wished to be alone with Harriet, made as an excuse 
 that she would have to assist Betsy in the kitchen, 
 and left them. 
 
 "I am so glad that Mr. Gardwell likes butter- 
 flies," began Harriet. "It will be such a treat to 
 papa. Isn't it perfectly delightful, Mr. Emmers- 
 ley?" 
 
 "It is certainly a wonderful coincidence, Miss 
 Dunn," replied Emmersley dryly. He usually 
 called her Harriet, and more than once when they 
 were alone she had addressed him as Kobert. 
 
 The truth was that Emmersley looked upon 
 Gardwell as a hawk that had flown into his own 
 particular dove-cote. He had resolved, when walk- 
 ing home with the judge and Gardwell, not to be 
 outshone in conversation by this polished stranger 
 from the city; but for some reason or other when 
 it came to talking, he had found himself wholly 
 unable to find words, and had scarcely opened his 
 mouth during the entire meal. 
 
 Harriet noticed his emphasis on the "Miss 
 Dunn," and resented it, womanlike, or rather gill- 
 like, for Harriet was as yet more of a girl than a 
 woman. She immediately poured oil on the smoul- 
 dering embers of Emmersley 's anger. 
 
 "I think he 's perfectly lovely, don't you? He 
 uses such beautiful language." 
 
 "He is quite brilliant," Emmersley admitted, 
 "and he reminds me very much of the butterfly 
 called the Monarch, which your father has in his 
 collection : exceedingly showy and pleasing to the 
 
50 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 eye, but if you squeeze it a trifle it is not so 
 pleasant." 
 
 Harriet knew the species mentioned, and felt 
 the force of the comparison. 
 
 **You always did take violent prejudices," she 
 said, "but I think you are hardly warranted in 
 thus judging a man whom you have seen only a 
 few moments, and then under our roof as a guest." 
 
 "They are all alike," replied Emmersley gloom- 
 ily; "and I '11 warrant you that if this man Gard- 
 well was what he seemed to-night, he wouldn't be 
 worth a million of dollars, as he is now." 
 
 There was a pause in the conversation, and they 
 could hear the voices of the judge and Gardwell 
 upstairs engaged in an animated discussion. 
 
 "Well," remarked Harriet, "I am sorry he 
 does n't please you, but on the other hand I am 
 very glad that papa has met some one who can ap- 
 preciate his love for butterflies. You never did." 
 
 "I have had more serious business than chasing 
 butterflies," Emmersley retorted. 
 
 " Oh, it has n't hurt papa any, so far as I can 
 see," put in Harriet, with a toss of her head. "He 
 has managed to attend to his business fairly well." 
 
 Emmersley realized that he had made a blunder, 
 and did not venture a reply. After pulling at his 
 little mustache for a few moments, while Harriet 
 hummed a tune, he arose to leave. 
 
 "Well, I must bid you good-evening, Miss 
 Dunn," he said stiffly. "I have a case that I must 
 study up on a little to-night. Please excuse me to 
 your father and mother." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 51 
 
 Harriet got his hat, and as he passed out the 
 door, said, "Good-night, Mr. Emmersley, I hope 
 you will call again." Then she shut the door, 
 and, walking back into the parlor, addressed these 
 words to a pouting young miss who looked at "her 
 from the old-fashioned mirror : 
 
 "The foolish old thing ! I do believe he is jeal- 
 ous." 
 
 "Here is what I call my butterfly study," said 
 the judge, laughing, as he ushered Gardwell into 
 a little square room at the head of the stairs. 
 "Harriet calls it ' the atelier,' she has a smat- 
 tering of French, you know, and in fact it is a 
 workshop, too, as you see." 
 
 He pointed, as he spoke, to a bench between 
 two windows, upon which were pins, tweezers, 
 coils of fine wire, a bottle of chloroform, some 
 specimens of larvae in a jar of alcohol, and all the 
 little odds and ends that an entomologist would 
 use. 
 
 "At this bench, at least," he continued, "nei- 
 ther big bugs nor little find favor all are pun- 
 ished alike, and " 
 
 "Are given the extreme penalty of the law," 
 dryly interrupted Gardwell, joining the jurist in 
 the laugh with which he supplemented his little 
 joke. 
 
 Gardwell' s eyes swept the walls, which were 
 almost literally covered with evidences of the 
 judge's industry. 
 
52 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Well, what do you think of it?" asked the 
 latter, with a touch of pride in his voice. 
 
 "Wonderful!" exclaimed Gardwell; and then 
 after a pause, still gazing with apparent wonder 
 at the marvelous array of gossamer-winged insects, 
 he slipped his arm through that of his host and 
 reiterated the word in an underbreath, "Wonder- 
 ful ! Wonderful ! " 
 
 This consummate bit of acting touched the 
 judge. He tightened his arm to the grasp of 
 Gardwell, and led him around the room expatiat- 
 ing upon the interesting features of his collection, 
 announcing them, severally, as he came to them, 
 with some such expression as "My Wisconsin col- 
 lection, just a hundred varieties," or, "My collec- 
 tion of Exotics," or, "These are my hybrids," and 
 so on. "Another piece of Harriet's work," he 
 said, as they stopped in front of a full-length can- 
 vas of gay hollyhocks over which a bevy of but- 
 terflies were hovering, and beneath which the artist 
 had written the words : 
 
 " Queen hollyhocks, with butterflies for crowns." 
 
 "That is a line of Jean Ingelow's, I believe," 
 remarked the judge, as Gardwell read it aloud. 
 
 "More poetry in the picture than in the verse," 
 was Gardwell 's reply. 
 
 "I think so myself. Here is something you 
 have often seen, if you have ever done any snipe 
 shooting." He pointed to a corner of the room 
 where stood a cluster of cat-tails, looking as fresh 
 as though still growing on the boggy edge of a 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 53 
 
 mere, and upon the brown spikes of which a group 
 of sulphur -winged butterflies seemed to have just 
 lighted. 
 
 Gardwell went into ecstasies over this, as he 
 had over everything else in the room. He had 
 discovered that the judge's enthusiasm grew apace 
 with his own, and inwardly wondered how long he 
 would be able to sustain his own without the judge 
 detecting the counterfeit. He had a wonderfully 
 retentive memory, and realized, during that hour 
 in the judge's study, that he had not spent nearly 
 a whole day and the larger part of two nights 
 studying up on butterflies for nothing. Occasion- 
 ally, it is true, the judge led him into rather deep 
 water, but Gardwell always managed to shift 
 around and get back to where he knew his sound- 
 ings. And then, on the other hand, he had ven- 
 tured in one or two instances to correct the judge 
 in slight errors, mere slips of the tongue, which 
 the judge acknowledged with, "I stand corrected 
 and thank you for setting me right." His fluency 
 in the nomenclature of the genus Lepidoptera had 
 amazed the judge, who at length inwardly admitted 
 that in that respect Gardwell was his superior. 
 
 "Oh, I haven't shown you my masterpiece," he 
 said, as they were about to leave the room. He 
 took from a cabinet a polished case, and raising 
 the glass lid disclosed to the astonished vision of 
 his visitor a butterfly which from tip to tip of its 
 distended wings measured no less than twelve 
 inches. 
 
54 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "This gigantic hybrid is not classified in the 
 books," he continued, laughing. "I have named 
 it the ' E pluribus unum; ' examine it closely." 
 
 Gardwell did so, and then discovered that what 
 at first glance appeared to be a colossal butterfly, 
 was only such in form, being a collection of small 
 butterflies so carefully and symmetrically disposed 
 as to colors as to produce the most realistic effect. 
 Gardwell really blushed when he discovered the 
 deception; and the judge, mistaking the cause, 
 clapped him on the shoulder, saying, "Caught 
 you napping that time, didn't I?" 
 
 A half-hour later, they went downstairs arm 
 in arm, and talking together as though they had 
 known each other for years. 
 
 "You do not know how I envy you that beauti- 
 ful specimen, the Witch," said the judge, when 
 they were again in the parlor. "I have been look- 
 ing for one of those fellows for a long time, but 
 my facilities are not what they might be; and 
 really, after all, the pleasure of the chase is one 
 of the beauties of butterfly collecting." 
 
 " You did not capture all those specimens which 
 you have," said Gardwell. "You have some that 
 are not natives of this climate and never drift here, 
 in fact." , 
 
 "Oh, no," replied the judge, "I have had some 
 sent to me." 
 
 Gardwell had laid the butterfly in the box on 
 the table before he went upstairs, and Harriet 
 came bringing it to him as he was holding his hat 
 in his hand about to bid the judge good-night. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 55 
 
 "You left your Black Witch on the table," she 
 said. "Isn't he perfectly lovely? " 
 
 "I intended to leave it there, Miss Dunn," re- 
 plied Gardwell; "it will fittingly grace the collec- 
 tion upstairs, which is as fine a collection as I have 
 ever seen." 
 
 "Oh, no, indeed ! " interrupted the judge. "I 
 can't accept it, really I can't. Why, it is one of 
 the rarest specimens in this country, and you cer- 
 tainly haven't got one yourself, or you wouldn't 
 be getting this." 
 
 "I will find another sooner or later," said Gard- 
 well. " And perhaps I have better opportunities 
 for getting one than you. So under the circum- 
 stances I must insist that you accept it as a slight 
 acknowledgment of the pleasure and profit derived 
 from the hour spent in your atelier." He smiled 
 and glanced at Harriet as he used the word, and 
 she seemed pleased. The judge hesitated. After 
 all, it was nothing but a butterfly, but it was a 
 butterfly that he had been longing for for years. 
 He looked at the glossy, black wings, and was 
 just about to accept the present, when it flashed 
 upon him that he had met this man only a few 
 hours ago; that they had nothing in common, and 
 in fact that in everything but butterflies they were 
 widely at variance in their views. 
 
 "No," he said decisively, "I cannot accept it, 
 Mr. Gardwell. I appreciate your kindness, but 
 I must firmly insist; under no circumstances will 
 I allow you to rob yourself of this treasure." 
 
56 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 Gardwell continued to urge it upon him, but he 
 stoutly held his ground. "Very well," laughed 
 Gardwell, "then I have nothing left to do but to 
 present it to Miss Harriet here, with my compli- 
 ments ; and if she will make a water-color sketch 
 of it, I shall consider that I have made a good 
 bargain." He handed the Black Witch to Harriet 
 as he spoke and stepped out on the porch, for the 
 conversation had taken place in the doorway. 
 
 "Remember, Miss Dunn, it is a bargain." He 
 tripped down the steps, bidding them good-night. 
 
 "Oh, papa," cried Harriet, throwing her arms 
 around her father's neck as he shut the door, "I 
 am so glad you have got the Black Witch. And 
 I am to earn it for you." 
 
 "I don't exactly relish the way in which I ob- 
 tained it," said the judge, admiring it; "but," he 
 added, "it 's a magnificent specimen, Harriet." 
 
 As Gardwell walked briskly to the hotel, where 
 he had instructed young Bracy to engage a room 
 for him, he thought over the events of the day, 
 and he wondered at the strange elasticity of his 
 limbs and the feeling of buoyancy that thrilled 
 through him. "What I need is a little more rest 
 like this, now and then," he mused. Then he 
 plunged into another vein of thought, the trend of 
 which the reader may guess from its conclusion, 
 which Gardwell expressed in this way : 
 
 " A fine gentleman ; an honest man ; an upright 
 judge, but human." 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 GAKDWELL went down to breakfast the next 
 morning with the feeling that he had put in a good 
 day, and that his work was finished. He was a 
 man much given to letting well enough alone, and 
 he had no desire to do anything now that might 
 in any way imperil the friendship that had sprung 
 up between himself and the judge. He was for 
 jumping on a train and hurrying back to the city, 
 but it occurred to him that that would look rather 
 strange, in view of the fact that he had taken such 
 pains to explain that he was at Bowerville to see 
 how his young protege would do on his first ap- 
 pearance in court. Besides, he had left the judge 
 feeling jubilant over the prospect of continuing the 
 discussion of butterflies, and he also remembered 
 that he had more than half accepted an invitation 
 to stay over and join the judge on a little fishing 
 trip. 
 
 It is true that Gardwell had not had a rod in 
 hand for many a summer, but he looked back to 
 his earlier days, when he had whipped the waters 
 of Eastern lakes and streams, and remembered that 
 it was while on a fishing trip with the president of 
 the great P. Q. & R. S. Railroad that he had laid 
 the foundation of his fortune. He had gained the 
 
58 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 friendship of that great man by judiciously indi- 
 cating to him the best casting-ground and at the 
 same time contriving to lose a large percentage of 
 the fish that he himself had hooked. He had not 
 had a day of rest in the country for two years, 
 and the little taste of being free from the care and 
 worry of his great business interests made him 
 more of a boy ; so he did what was for him a very 
 unusual thing. He flipped a half-dollar into the 
 air, after he was dressed, and before it struck the 
 floor, cried, "Heads ! " and bending over, looked 
 at the coin as it lay on the dingy carpet. 
 
 "Heads it is!" he exclaimed. "For a man 
 that has throttled fate a dozen times, it is odd that 
 I should let it decide this point. But I abide by 
 the decision, and for two days at least I shall 
 wander, free from worry, in this Elysium of rustic 
 simplicity. Butterflies and bass are, after all, a 
 welcome change from a surfeit of bonds and bank- 
 ers. I need a rest." 
 
 And Gardwell went down to the breakfast-table 
 actually humming a snatch from an old tune. 
 
 He found young Bracy waiting for him, and the 
 young man advanced with a smiling face and a 
 look of boyish expectancy and confidence that 
 pleased the elder man. 
 
 "I think I have got everything in shape," said 
 Bracy, "and I have little doubt but we shall be 
 successful in the action." 
 
 Gardwell smiled, and while they were at break- 
 fast he took occasion to caution Bracy not to be 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 59 
 
 too fiery in fighting the case, but to be calm and 
 to refrain from injudicious and intemperate re- 
 marks in the heat of the trial. 
 
 "I shall not be surprised," he said, "if the jury 
 returns a verdict against us. We are not in Mai- 
 ton now." 
 
 When the young man again met Gardwell, he 
 had fought his first battle and lost. It was as 
 Gardwell had anticipated. Some rather good 
 legal points made by Emmersley, the bellowing 
 eloquence of his associate counsel, who had served 
 through the war with half of the jurymen, and a 
 charge based on equity rather than on fine legal 
 technicalities, were the factors that secured a ver- 
 dict for the farmer litigant. Gardwell entered 
 the court-room just as the jury came in with its 
 verdict. 
 
 He made his way up to the judge's bench, and 
 after a friendly greeting asked if he would have 
 time to walk with him to the train for Malton. 
 
 "Why, you are not going to leave now, Mr. 
 Gardwell? " asked the judge, somewhat surprised. 
 "You promised to take that fishing trip with me 
 to-morrow, and besides, we I was looking for- 
 ward to another argument on butterflies this even- 
 ing." 
 
 Gardwell said something about business calling 
 him back, but the judge laid a hand on his shoul- 
 der familiarly and said, "Mr. Gardwell, I can't 
 release you; I can't let you go. I must have an- 
 other talk with you. And, by the way, you were 
 
60 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 wrong about the MorpJio menelaus: their wings 
 sometimes have an expanse of six inches. I knew 
 I was right, but have since verified my statement." 
 
 "I never have met with one so large," replied 
 Gardwell, "and still think that the largest yet 
 found north of latitude 25 did not exceed five 
 inches." 
 
 "Oh, possibly that's so," said the judge. "At 
 any rate we must continue the argument; you don't 
 know how interesting it is for me to hear about 
 the family Lepidoptera from some one who knows 
 and understands it as you do." 
 
 The judge was so decided and yet so courteous 
 in his manner that Gardwell deemed it politic not 
 to break away, and finally agreed to spend the 
 evening with the judge and also to stay over Sat- 
 urday for the fishing trip. 
 
 " I 'm going to take you to some fishing such as 
 you probably have never had," said the judge. 
 "There is a lake not far from here in which at 
 this season of the year we ought. to find some very 
 good muscallonge fishing. You talk about bass ! 
 You want to catch a muscallonge ! " 
 
 "Oh," observed Gardwell, "a muscallonge, so 
 far as I have heard, is very much like a large pick- 
 erel; give me a bass every time. Nothing can be 
 gamier than a small-mouthed red-eye." 
 
 "Well," said the judge, "we will settle that 
 question to-morrow, but be sure and be up to the 
 house this evening." 
 
 While Gardwell could not help admiring the 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 61 
 
 judge's enthusiasm for his hobby, he was not quite 
 sure of his own ability to sustain the role of an 
 enthusiastic lepidopterist for another evening with- 
 out either being bored or suffering detection. 
 Nevertheless he accepted the judge's urgent invi- 
 tation. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 IT is the little things, after all, that overturn 
 the best laid plans of men : a speck of dust stops 
 the delicate machinery of the watch; a broken belt 
 shatters the Corliss engine, and a small favor or 
 a trifling slight causes a man to enlist himself 
 under one of two banners and ever after to fight 
 under it. No one knew this better than Gardwell ; 
 but while he had, with so trivial a subject as but- 
 terflies, gained the friendship of Judge Dunn, he 
 had also by a word made an enemy who was des- 
 tined to cut a material figure in making the con- 
 summation of his plans exceedingly difficult, 
 with what degree of success will develop later on. 
 
 Emmersley disliked Gardwell only in a general 
 way, and would scarcely have given him a thought 
 when once away from Bowerville. His jealousy 
 was so foolish that he himself realized it five min- 
 utes after leaving Harriet Thursday evening. 
 
 Gardwell spent a very pleasant evening with the 
 judge, most of it in the butterfly room, but the 
 talk was not all on butterflies. The judge had 
 none too iiigh an opinion of old Colonel Corcoran 
 Cawker, the associate of Emmersley in the case, 
 and did not hesitate to frankly express it. He 
 cared little that a verdict had been brought in 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 63 
 
 against the great corporation which Gardwell con- 
 trolled, and yet he was too good a jurist not to 
 know that it would not stand. He knew, too, 
 that the verdict had been obtained by an undue 
 use of the lever of anti-corporation sentiment, 
 so strong among the country folk, and he was 
 too just a man at heart not to feel ashamed of it. 
 Gardwell made light of the whole matter, declared 
 that it was the every-day experience of his legal 
 force and of corporation lawyers in general, and 
 that nothing else could be expected in view of the 
 constant warfare waged by designing politicians 
 and demagogues of every stripe. 
 
 "And yet, Mr. Gardwell," said the judge, with 
 a twinkle in his eye, "I do not think that any 
 great harm has been done. The corporation is 
 rarely imposed upon in the long run. The wasp 
 has stung the lion, but the lion will brush the 
 wasp off and afterwards eat a sheep, or a bullock, 
 if need be." 
 
 Gardwell made no reply, and the judge brought 
 out a specimen which he had overlooked the night 
 before. The two men discussed the judge's hobby 
 until Gardwell's face, excellent actor though he 
 was, plainly showed that he had grown weary. 
 
 "Enough of butterflies ! " exclaimed the judge. 
 "Let us go downstairs and talk about our little 
 fishing trip. If I can have you hook a muscallonge, 
 I shall feel that I have, in a small measure, repaid 
 you for your magnificent gift of the Black Witch 
 to my daughter." 
 
64 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 When they were downstairs and fairly into the 
 topic of fishing, Harriet joined in the conversation. 
 
 "Oh," she cried with girlish enthusiasm, "I do 
 love to fish. Bob and I I mean Mr. Emmers- 
 ley," she added, with a little flush "he I we 
 caught six fine bass one day last July just after 
 I came home from school. I landed the very big- 
 gest, too, a four-pounder." 
 
 "I never could bear to catch fish," remarked 
 Mrs. Dunn quietly. "It always seemed to me so 
 cruel to kill them just for the sport." 
 
 "We don't kill them for the sport, mamma," 
 replied Harriet archly. " You know Uncle Spencer 
 likes fish, so do all his folks, and then there 's the 
 poor Pecks, and the Smolleys, and goodness knows 
 who else. Our bass and pickerel are never 
 wasted." 
 
 "I know that," assented Mrs. Dunn, "but I 
 never knew of your exerting yourself for the poor 
 of the town in any other way." 
 
 "Well, I do love to fish, and I like to land a 
 big fellow," said Harriet fervently. 
 
 "I must say that I agree with you, Miss Dunn," 
 put in Gardwell, "although I can't claim that I 
 ever fished with the idea of feeding the multitude. 
 It 's a long time since I had a rod in hand, and 
 my fingers tingle now to feel the thrill of a strike 
 from a bass. And I ask nothing better than a 
 bass, either, with all deference to the judge's mus- 
 callonge." 
 
 "I don't know about that," said Harriet, "I 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 65 
 
 want to land a muscallonge next year. I have 
 lost three this season." 
 
 The judge had been in a sort of reverie while 
 this conversation was going on. He had been 
 looking at GardwelTs frank, smiling face, and 
 thinking what a pity it was that such a man, one 
 who loved nature and fishing and butterflies (no 
 one who loved butterflies could help being right at 
 heart in the judge's eyes), s-hould devote his life 
 to gathering wealth for himself and for others who 
 already had too much, by methods which he viewed 
 as extremely questionable, to say the least. 
 
 " You will speak more respectfully of the mus- 
 callonge by to-morrow night," said he, rousing up 
 at the mention of his name. " But we must make 
 an early start; and as the guide who is bound to 
 furnish you good sport to-morrow, I must ' sound 
 taps,' as we used to say in the army." 
 
 "Papa sends everybody to bed early when he 
 has them down for a fishing trip the next day," 
 said Harriet, laughing. "He makes little cere- 
 mony of it, either." 
 
 "Nor should he," assented Gardwell, rising. "I 
 shall be ready to report, sir, at any hour you 
 name." 
 
 "Five o'clock," said the judge; "sharp at five 
 Rufus and I will be at the hotel with the buck- 
 board." 
 
 Gardwell was bidding the ladies good-by, and 
 expressing the hope that he might meet them in 
 the city some time in the near future, when the 
 judge interrupted: 
 
66 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 " Oh, you '11 see them to-morrow. They will 
 drive over with our lunch about noon." 
 
 Elliot Gardwell, head man of the Trans-Ameri- 
 can Railroad, the active, never-tiring genius who 
 controlled, through their poeketbooks, the destinies 
 of hundreds of bondholders and thousands who 
 had no bonds; a man of whom it had been said 
 he never slept, had no wakeful thoughts that night, 
 for he went to sleep almost as soon as he touched 
 the bed. It was the first time in ten years that he 
 had missed reading his daily newspaper. 
 
 The alarm in his watch under the pillow awoke 
 him at four o'clock, and he sprang out of bed and 
 dressed by the light of a smoky kerosene lamp. 
 He found the landlord up, and a cup of hot coffee 
 ready for him. He finished his coffee and rolls, 
 home-made ones and just baked, and he won- 
 dered if the cook had stayed up all night to pre- 
 pare them for him, and with a cigar in his mouth 
 and half a dozen in his pockets he stood on the 
 veranda of the hotel, and looked down the street 
 of the sleepy town. Presently there was the rum- 
 ble of wagon wheels, and the buckboard, with 
 Rufus driving and the judge seated behind, turned 
 a corner and rolled up to the hotel. 
 
 "Right on time," said the judge; "it is exactly 
 five according to my watch. Jump aboard, you 
 won't need anything. I have brought tackle and 
 a pair of overalls for you." 
 
 The sun was just beginning to redden the east, 
 and the dawn betokened another beautiful day. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 67 
 
 "It 's only a six-mile drive," he continued, "and 
 over as smooth a piece of pike, I think, as you will 
 find in the West. It was built when we had the 
 4 good-roads ' fever." 
 
 It was in truth a magnificent drive, the roadway 
 being an improvement on the original Macadam. 
 
 They fell to discussing butterflies in a desultory 
 sort of a way, and so used had Gardwell become 
 to the part he was playing that he actually began 
 to find some enjoyment in it. 
 
 "This is the only bad piece in the road," said 
 the judge, when they were about halfway to the 
 lake. Turning a sharp corner, they began to de- 
 scend a rugged hill in a sharp angle. The horse 
 clattered over a little wooden bridge at the bottom, 
 and then they ascended another hill and made an- 
 other turn which was an exact duplicate of the one 
 just passed. "It's an ugly jag," continued the 
 judge, "but then, it helps us to appreciate the 
 rest of the road all the more." 
 
 It was just a trifle after sunrise when they 
 reached the lake. Rufus tied the horse to a tree 
 and threw a blanket over him, for the air was 
 crisp, and in a very short space of time he had a 
 boat ready, while the judge had unwrapped the 
 tackle and fitted out two rods. 
 
 "A spoon-hook," said Gardwell, glancing at the 
 Number 4 Skinner. "There ain't much chance for 
 a fish to get that out of his mouth." 
 
 The judge made no reply, but smiled to himself. 
 
 Gardwell took a place in the bow, by the judge's 
 
68 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 directions, while the latter seated himself in the 
 stern, with Rufus at the oars. 
 
 "Is there any particular way of fishing for mus- 
 callonge?" asked Gar dwell. 
 
 "Oh, no," said the judge. "Cast just the same 
 as though you were casting for bass." 
 
 They made three circles of the little lake with- 
 out the sign of a strike. Gardwell, who had been 
 casting industriously, finally remarked, "This 
 isn't over-exciting." 
 
 "You 'd better row over the sand-bar there, 
 Rufus," suggested the judge. "I think it is about 
 time for them to be there now." 
 
 Rufus turned the boat around, and as he pulled 
 on the oars he exclaimed, " By hokey ! I would 
 like to see him get a big one on." 
 
 His wish was gratified sooner than he expected. 
 Rufus pulled over towards the sand-bar and Gard- 
 well made a cast. The spoon struck with a splash, 
 and then started on its return trip to the boat. It 
 was hardly ten feet away when the water broke 
 with a force that sent drops of spray into the boat, 
 a pair of gleaming jaws snapped just over the 
 water-line, and then the spoon disappeared in the 
 centre of a whirling eddy. The reel began to 
 sing. The pliant steel rod bent double, the eyes 
 of the fisherman snapped, and then his lips curled 
 in scorn as the fish slacked up on his first run. 
 
 "Just what I thought," he said. "One or two 
 rushes, and then it 's all over with one of those 
 fellows. They 're just like pickerel." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 69 
 
 He took in line, and the muscallonge came in 
 as if he were willing to give himself up and have 
 the hook taken out of his mouth. About ten feet 
 from the boat he rose to the surface, and turned 
 half over on his side, at the same time seeming to 
 cast a beseeching glance up at the fisherman. 
 
 " This is easy, judge, " laughed Gardwell. " ShaU 
 I tow him in and hand him to you?" 
 
 "Look out, or you '11 lose him. You look right 
 smart, too," shouted Rufus in an excited tone. 
 
 "Not I," answered Gardwell, flipping his rod a 
 little and curling his lip. 
 
 "Pride goeth before a fall," said the judge 
 warningly. 
 
 The same instant the fellow changed his mind 
 about coming into the boat. There was a light- 
 ning change, and the logy-looking fish shot up 
 into the air higher than ever jumped a bass, and 
 shook his head in a way that made the spoon rattle 
 against his teeth like the sound of castanets. 
 When he struck the water, he gave a double twist 
 and a jerk that sunk the butt of the rod into the 
 fisherman's stomach until his eyes bulged out, 
 while the rod bent double and the line was as tight 
 as a fiddle-string. Then he was off with a run 
 that made the reel smoke. 
 
 "Great Caesar ! " gasped the man, who held the 
 destinies of great corporations in the hollow of his 
 hand, but in whose hand now was nothing but an 
 eight-ounce rod. " That is n't a fish ; it 's a horse ! " 
 
 The judge chuckled, and Rufus, bending to his 
 
70 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 oars, shouted: "Don't you let him get away, Mr. 
 Gar dwell ! Don't let him get away ! Don't let 
 him go ! " 
 
 "Let him go?" shouted Gardwell. "Let him 
 go? I haven't got him; he 's got me." 
 
 "It's only about a twelve-pounder." remarked 
 the judge very coolly. "Rufus, you had better 
 bend to the oars a little stronger. We shall have 
 to drown him." 
 
 For twenty-five minutes it was nip and tuck. 
 Half a dozen times it looked as if the fish must be 
 done for, but the judge would smile and say "not 
 yet," and the gallant lord of the lake would rally 
 too, and make another magnificent burst for lib- 
 erty. 
 
 "My arm is almost gone," groaned Gardwell, at 
 the end of half an hour's fighting, during which 
 he had handled his frail line with consummate 
 skill and address. "But isn't he a magnificent 
 fellow ! He 's been fighting on pure nerve for fif- 
 teen minutes. He must have a bucket of water in 
 him now. Lord ! there he goes again." 
 
 Worn out and overpowered, but not conquered, 
 the fish was finally hauled up to the side of the 
 boat, and Rufus dealt him a blow on the head with 
 the gaff -hook. 
 
 " I take off my hat to the muscallonge, and 
 apologize to you, judge," Gardwell said, as he sat 
 in the bow of the boat all in a tremor. "I won't 
 take my hat off just yet, either," he added, "for 
 my arm is so weak that I don't believe I could 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 71 
 
 raise it as high as my head. The bass is game to 
 the core, I still insist, but he can't put up such a 
 fight as one of these fellows can. Judge," he con- 
 tinued, wiping the perspiration from his brow, "I 
 owe you another butterfly, and I '11 get it for you, 
 too. No matter what it is, just name it, and you 
 shall have it, even if it is a six-inch Morpho 
 menelaus." 
 
 "Oh, that was nothing," said the judge calmly. 
 "He didn't make very much fuss. If you had 
 hooked him in November after the first ice had 
 been formed, you would n't have got him up to the 
 boat in an hour." 
 
 "Well," Gard well remarked dryly, "I'm glad 
 I got him in September." 
 
 Gardwell was like a boy now, and nothing would 
 do but Rufus should row and row and row, while 
 he continued to cast as though his wrist was iron. 
 But it was after nine o'clock, and the muscallonge 
 had had their breakfast. 
 
 Rufus brought out a basket from under the 
 front seat of the buckboard, when they had pulled 
 up to the shore, and soon had the lunch spread on 
 a fallen log. 
 
 "I can't eat anything now," said Gardwell. 
 "It 's only half an hour since I had breakfast." 
 
 "It 's five hours ago," replied the judge, "and I 
 guess you will be able to eat a little something out 
 in this fresh air." 
 
 Gardwell found that the judge was right. He 
 ate two big sandwiches and washed them down 
 
72 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 with a cupful of currant wine, which tasted better 
 to him than any he had ever drunk at the club, 
 even from the vineyards of France, although Gard- 
 well was not much of a wine-drinker. 
 
 "We will drive over to Perch Lake now," said 
 the judge. "It is only three miles from here, and 
 there I will give you some bass fishing. They 
 call it Perch Lake, because they catch nothing but 
 bass there." 
 
 "Could n't we catch another muscallonge if we 
 stayed here, judge?" asked Gardwell, like a boy. 
 
 "There has never been a muscallonge hooked in 
 this lake after eight o'clock, to my certain know- 
 ledge," said Rufus, "for the last twenty-two years. 
 You might get another one along towards sun- 
 down, but 't ain't likely; it 's kind o' early for 'em 
 yet." 
 
 "I 'd stay here if I thought there was any 
 chance," said the judge, "but I thought it was 
 bass you liked to catch, Mr. Gardwell," 
 
 "Enough ! Enough ! " cried Gardwell, throw- 
 ing up both hands. "I like bass fishing, but I '11 
 confess that I like muscallonge, too." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 IT was after one o'clock when they returned, 
 and Mrs. Dunn and Harriet had not yet arrived. 
 Gardwell lighted a cigar and seated himself by the 
 judge's side on the moss-covered trunk of a fallen 
 tree. 
 
 "I wish," began Gardwell, "that I had a place 
 out on one of these lakes, and to tell the truth I 
 wish that I lived in a town like Bowerville. The 
 wear and tear on a man in the fights of city life, 
 especially a man in my position, is something tre- 
 mendous. Why, I have gone five days and nights 
 on a stretch without a wink of sleep." 
 
 "And I," said the judge, "I never missed a 
 night's sleep in my life, excepting when I was in 
 the army. But why don't you do it, if you want 
 to? Close up your affairs, come out here and live 
 and you and I will chase butterflies together," 
 he finished, with a laugh. 
 
 "And muscallonge," added Gardwell, joining 
 him. Then, in more serious tone: "Ah ! it is 
 easy enough to ask, Why don't you? but you don't 
 know. When you were in the army," he said, 
 with a salute, "and the zest of the battle was on 
 you you didn't think of home then. It was 
 only at times when resting between dreary marches 
 
74 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 or sitting by the camp-fire that you longed for the 
 war to close. It is so with me. I am in the 
 midst of the fight, and in the midst of the fight I 
 must stay. Great armies, with great generals at 
 their head, are now fighting each other; not with 
 powder and ball and bayonets and sabre, but with 
 the most deadly of all weapons on either side 
 money. Great coups are executed, daring moves 
 are made, some points are carried by assault and 
 some by strategy. Even now, I am like a general 
 who has left his army, his small army, such is 
 the one that I command," he added modestly, 
 "and, for all I know, an important engagement 
 may now be taking place, and here I am several 
 times ' twenty miles away, ' with no horse to carry 
 me on to Winchester. Why, I don't even know 
 what the St. Clair syndicate has done during the 
 last three days. We are on the eve of a great 
 battle with millions of dollars on either side. But 
 I do not expect the engagement to take place for 
 at least a year, and it will not if I can help it." 
 
 "And to think," murmured the judge, "that you 
 love butterflies." 
 
 "Yes," continued Gardwell, again becoming ac- 
 tive, "but just at present I am a butterfly, and 
 certain gentlemen in the East wish to stick a pin 
 through me and put me in their cabinet. But if 
 I elude them, and I will, I '11 follow the bent of 
 my inclination for the rest of my days." 
 
 "I hope you will be successful," said the judge. 
 "And to speak frankly, Mr. Gardwell, I have not 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 75 
 
 met a man in many a day that I have taken such 
 a liking to as to you. I say this frankly, as a 
 fellow worshiper of the family Lepidoptera, and I 
 wish there were more like you." 
 
 The two men were shaking hands on this senti- 
 ment when Harriet and her mother came driving 
 through the woods. They were in the family 
 buggy, and Harriet held the reins over a mettle- 
 some young horse. Her face was all aglow, while 
 her mother's was pale from fright. 
 
 "I don't know what 's the matter with Papilio, 
 papa," cried Harriet. "He pulled terribly all the 
 way. I gave him the whip on the straight road, 
 but oh, he did pull dreadfully, and I know my 
 hands are just blistered." 
 
 "He 's as gentle and playful as a kitten," said 
 the judge to Gardwell, for the horse was covered 
 with foam. "He's young, you know, and feels 
 his oats, but he '11 stop at my word in an instant. 
 You shouldn't have lashed him, Harriet." 
 
 "Well, perhaps I did lose my temper, papa, but 
 he did act dreadfully." 
 
 "It's too bad that a horse can't talk," said 
 Gardwell. " Oftentimes some little ailment which 
 could be readily cured, if one only knew what it 
 was, will make the best tempered animal an ugly 
 and vicious brute. He may have a bad tooth." 
 
 "Possibly," replied the judge. "I '11 have that 
 looked after on Monday." 
 
 It was a pleasant little picnic party that sat 
 down to luncheon there in the woods that after- 
 
76 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 noon, and Gardwell thought that he had never be- 
 fore had a more enjoyable time, and he also vowed, 
 mentally, of course, that seldom had he seen so 
 handsome a girl as Harriet Dunn that is, in 
 recent years. After luncheon Harriet expressed 
 a desire to try her hand at fishing. 
 
 "Let me row the boat for you," volunteered 
 Gardwell. "I used to be very good at that." 
 
 So they went down to the boat together, Har- 
 riet with her father's rod; and as Rufus pushed 
 them out, Harriet said, " Who knows but you may 
 prove a mascot, Mr. Gardwell, and I may catch 
 a muscallonge ? " 
 
 " I hope so, " Gardwell replied. " Nothing would 
 give me greater pleasure, and if you enjoy it as 
 much as I did to-day you will never forget it." 
 
 Like most young women who wield the rod, 
 Harriet played an accompaniment of a talk to her 
 fishing, and later on sang a little ditty to the 
 fishes, the refrain of which ran thus : 
 
 Come, fishes, from the deep lagoon, 
 For you I cast my shining spoon. 
 
 Come, great and small, 
 My hook is baited with the wish 
 That I may catch the largest fish 
 
 Among you all. 
 
 Hemlock Lake lies in a depression, with high 
 banks around its shores, and on the bank near the 
 roadway, behind a tree, there happened to be a 
 young man standing as Gardwell rowed along the 
 shore with his pretty companion. 
 
 "Your hook is keen, and it has an alluring 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 77 
 
 bait," said Gardwell significantly, as she finished 
 the song. 
 
 "Do you think so?" asked Harriet archly. 
 " But I have n't begun to fish yet. The fish around 
 here are neither big enough nor brave enough for 
 me," and laughingly she sang the refrain again. 
 
 Light words and meaning little, but they pierced 
 the heart of the man standing under the big oak 
 on the bank. For a moment his eyes flashed an- 
 grily down at Gardwell, and then he turned and 
 threw himself on the ground, face downwards, with 
 his face upon his folded arms. It seemed less 
 than ten minutes' time to him, but when he got 
 up and looked at the sun, Kobert Emmersley knew 
 that an hour had passed. The boat was no longer 
 on the lake. He walked back to the fence, lifted 
 his bicycle over it, and stood looking down with 
 his hands on the handle-bars. 
 
 "So ! she is n't fishing yet," he murmured, "and 
 I am too small fry for her." 
 
 He drew a deep sigh and rested his elbow on the 
 saddle. The bitter thought whence the sigh had 
 sprung was quickly merged in a dream of days 
 and things yet to be. In that brief glimpse into 
 the future, he saw himself crowned with political 
 honors, and he felt the thrill of power an airy 
 nothing, as yet, built of hope and determination, 
 but on such foundation Robert Emmersley had once 
 before, nay often, framed great resolves. In hap- 
 pier mood now, he mounted his bicycle and slowly 
 wheeled down the pike. He was lost in reverie, 
 
78 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 and rode along mechanically, as a man walks, with 
 no conscious concern about his equilibrium. 
 
 He had not ridden far when he became dimly 
 aware that a horse was approaching him from be- 
 hind. He veered a little towards the edge of the 
 pike and was wheeling along, resolved not to look 
 up, for he half guessed who the people might be, 
 when he awoke with a start to the sense that the 
 horse behind him was running, and that it was 
 almost upon him. He had barely time to glance 
 back and swing out a little further when the horse 
 dashed by a runaway. One glance told him 
 that it was Judge Dunn's buggy with the colt at- 
 tached. He knew that Gardwell and the judge 
 had driven out on the buckboard, and that Harriet 
 and her mother had followed in the buggy, and he 
 had not a doubt now that they were in the buggy 
 behind that frenzied animal. His mind was made 
 up in an instant, and his weight went on to the 
 pedals. The road was wide and clear, and Em- 
 mersley knew his powers on a bicycle, which had 
 been tested at more than one racing meet in the 
 State. He had raced before, but never as he raced 
 now. He was cool, although every muscle in his 
 body was strained to its utmost tension, as he went 
 flying along. His mind was made up, and he was 
 entered in the race to win or die. The runaway 
 had barely a hundred yards the start of him, but 
 a running horse eats up the ground very swiftly. 
 Two miles and a half ahead of them was the ravine 
 with its sharp point; and if he could not stop the 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 79 
 
 horse before they reached that, he knew that the 
 occupants of the buggy would be hurled to death. 
 Slowly but surely he began to close up the gap. 
 He was thinking as he rode ; and as he put every 
 ounce in him upon the pedals, and his brawny 
 arms tugged at the handle-bars like a giant strain- 
 ing to uproot an oak, he was thinking of an aged 
 mother and of a sister; and as he thought, the gap 
 between him and the flying, rocking buggy grew 
 less and less. A mile had been covered, and he 
 was within fifty feet of the runaway. He noticed 
 how queerly the dust and little particles of gravel 
 sounded as they crunched under his wheel, and he 
 wondered to himself what would happen if one of 
 the tires should be punctured. The strain was 
 beginning to tell on him, but he noted with the 
 eyes of an experienced racer that the horse had 
 begun to slacken its speed a trifle. Three quar- 
 ters of a mile more, and he had drawn up until 
 his front wheel had lapped the rear wheel of the 
 buggy. Slowly, slowly, inch by inch, he crept up, 
 until he was almost abreast with the flying animal. 
 He rode thus for fifty yards, and steadied himself 
 for the stroke. Then up went the "hump" the 
 bicycle hump, that some may laugh at and with 
 it the responsive spurt that had won many a race. 
 Like a shaft from a cross-bow, the wheel shot in 
 towards the right and carried its rider just in front 
 of the galloping horse's throat, and in an instant 
 his right arm swung up, and his sinewy hand 
 grasped the bridle close to the bit. There was a 
 
80 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 crash of splintered wood and a twang of breaking 
 wire, but hanging to the horse's head with a grip 
 of steel was Robert Emmersley. 
 
 The struggle was a short one, and when it was 
 over Emmersley stood in the middle of the road 
 with the cowered and trembling animal before 
 him. In the buggy, with a piece of broken rein 
 in one of his hands, sat Elliot Gardwell, cold as 
 ice. Emmersley drew back the horse's head and 
 looked, and their eyes met. He tried to say, "Is 
 she safe?" but no voice came from his trembling 
 lips ; and Gardwell, jumping out of the buggy, ran 
 to his side, and threw an arm about him. 
 
 "Are you hurt?" he cried. 
 
 Emmersley shook his head and put his hand up 
 to his face. The blood was streaming from an 
 ugly cut in the cheek. 
 
 "Tie the horse," said Emmersley, pushing Gard- 
 well aside and walking over to a boulder by the 
 roadside. 
 
 Gardwell hastily hitched the trembling animal 
 to the fence, and went over to Emmersley. 
 
 "You are badly hurt," he cried; "where can I 
 reach a surgeon ? " 
 
 "Don't be alarmed," said Emmersley, holding 
 a blood-soaked handkerchief to his face. " I am 
 not hurt at all. I had a worse shaking up than 
 this once before this summer." 
 
 He began brushing the dust from his clothes, 
 and glanced ruefully at the wreck of his bicycle 
 lying back in the road. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 81 
 
 Gardwell caught the glance. "While risking 
 your life for me, Mr. Emmersley, you have also 
 sustained a financial loss. I insist on making it 
 good. What gear do you ride?" 
 
 Emmersley stood hesitating a moment, and then 
 replied: "I will accept your offer on one condi- 
 tion. I hope I am not presuming to ask a favor." 
 
 Gardwell bit his lip. Here was a man to whom 
 he was under the deepest obligations, and who 
 seemed inclined to make the most of it. Gardwell 
 disliked being under obligations to any one. It was 
 a part of his system to place other people under 
 obligations to him, and to avoid being the recipient 
 of favors of any kind. 
 
 "It is your right to ask anything," he replied. 
 "I will grant it if it lies in my power." 
 
 "Very well," said Emmersley. "It is simply 
 this : you will say nothing about the runaway and 
 what you may choose to call your rescue, and let 
 it appear that I accidentally ran into the horse and 
 caused the accident." 
 
 "I will do nothing of the kind," cried Gardwell 
 more impetuously than he had spoken for many 
 years. "When the facts leak out, I shall be 
 placed in a despicable position. I have many 
 things to answer for, but not for having ever acted 
 like a cur." 
 
 "It will never leak out from me," Emmersley 
 said firmly; "and you are the only other one who 
 knows it. I insist that I have the right to ask it. 
 My reasons, and what my thoughts are, are my 
 
82 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 own. . You need do nothing but corroborate what 
 I say about the matter. Do you grant the fa- 
 vor? It is the only one I shallvask, I pledge you 
 that." 
 
 Gardwell looked at the blood-stained face and 
 dust-grimed figure of his rescuer. 
 
 "I grant it," was his reply, "but under protest." 
 
 Emmersley had a book of court-plaster in an 
 inner pocket of his riding- jacket, and he allowed 
 Gardwell to dress the cut on his face. 
 
 "I'm all right now," he said, drawing himself 
 up to his full height and stamping his feet on the 
 hard road-bed. " I '11 lace that broken line together, 
 and we '11 get on the way again. There was a 
 repair outfit on my wheel, and that must be all 
 right." 
 
 He ran hobbling back, and found the leathern 
 case, and was soon swiftly splicing the broken 
 rein, which had parted close to the bit. 
 
 Gardwell explained, as he worked, how it had 
 happened that he was driving in alone. A nut 
 had come off from one of the wheels of the buck- 
 board, and as he wished to catch the train for 
 Malton, and had barely enough time to make it, 
 the judge had insisted on his taking the buggy. 
 
 " If Miss Dunn had not gone with Eufus to look 
 for the missing 'nut, she probably would have been 
 in the buggy with me, as the judge had suggested 
 that she accompany me so as to drive the horse 
 back." 
 
 Emmersley made no reply, but wondered whether 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 83 
 
 he was glad or sorry that she was not in the run- 
 away. 
 
 "I hope we can get away before they overtake 
 us," Emmersley remarked. "It would save an- 
 swering a good many questions." 
 
 But in this he was disappointed. The buck- 
 board could be seen approaching as he spoke, and 
 was soon up with them. Ruf us 'pulled up when 
 he reached the wrecked bicycle, and the judge, 
 jumping out, ran forward. 
 
 "Hello ! " he cried. "What 's this? Are you 
 hurt, Mr. Gardwell? " 
 
 "Not in the least," replied Gardwell. "Our 
 friend here is bruised some, but nothing serious." 
 
 " Bob Emmersley ! " exclaimed the judge ; "why, 
 I did n't recognize you at first. What is all this, 
 anyway? " 
 
 "Well, judge, to tell you the truth, I broke a 
 pedal again. I guess I 'm too strong to ride a 
 wheel." 
 
 "Yes, and too reckless, sir," roared the judge. 
 "Racing again, I suppose. Is the colt hurt?" 
 
 "Not a scratch," replied Emmersley cheerfully, 
 "but my wheel is bent a trifle, I guess." 
 
 The judge glanced back at the tangle of wire 
 spokes, wooden rims, and twisted steel tubing in 
 the roadway and grunted approvingly. 
 
 "It was not Mr. Emmersley 's fault," began 
 Gardwell. 
 
 "I understand all that, Mr. Gardwell," inter- 
 rupted the judge gruffly. "I never knew a case 
 
84 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 yet where it was the bicycle rider's fault. They 
 are always being run down by ox-teams and loaded 
 farm wagons ! I would advise you to stick to 
 walking after this," he continued, turning to Em- 
 mersley . " If that colt is ruined for family driving, 
 I shall hold you responsible. I am not much of 
 a believer in accidents of this sort with no one to 
 blame." 
 
 "We are ready to start now," said Emmersley 
 to Gardwell quietly. He walked back, and, pick- 
 ing up the pieces of his wheel, carried them to the 
 edge of the roadway, and tossed them over a 
 hedge. He bowed and took off his cap to Harriet 
 and her mother, but he did not speak to them. 
 Harriet's face was white, and she seemed about to 
 jump out of the buckboard and run to him. But 
 he turned quickly and walked back to the buggy. 
 
 Gardwell and Emmersley drove away, and as 
 they started the judge shouted, "Good-by, Mr. 
 Gardwell, let us see you at Bowerville again, be- 
 fore long." 
 
 When the judge had resumed his seat in the 
 buckboard, Harriet could no longer conceal her 
 solicitude for Emmersley. 
 
 "Oh, papa," she cried, "is Mr. Emmersley badly 
 hurt? His face was covered with blood." 
 
 "Hurt!" grunted the judge. "Hurt! you 
 could n't hurt him if you ran him through a thresh- 
 ing-machine. It 's the colt I am worrying about. 
 I 'm afraid you can never drive him again." But 
 the fate of the colt was of little concern to Harriet 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 85 
 
 with the vision of Emmersley's bleeding face in 
 her mind. 
 
 "Poor fellow," she sighed, "he always was so 
 clumsy." 
 
 At the depot, which the two men reached just 
 in time for Gar dwell to catch his train, there were 
 few words exchanged. Each instinctively disliked 
 the other, and Gardwell knew that he was at a 
 great disadvantage. Still, he felt that he must 
 say something, and he again expressed his grati- 
 tude. 
 
 "Oh, that's all right," Emmersley replied 
 lightly. " The judge has been very kind to me, 
 and I knew how much he valued that colt. I 
 would do as much for him again any time." 
 
 "There 's something under the seat," said Gard- 
 well, "that I never took my mind off of while the 
 horse was running. I was terribly worried lest I 
 should lose it. Will you kindly hand it out to 
 me?" 
 
 Emmersley fumbled under the seat, and brought 
 out the twelve-pound muscallonge, nicely wrapped 
 in grass. 
 
 "Thanks," said Gardwell; "it 's the first one I 
 ever caught. Good-by. We shall meet again." 
 
 "Good-by," said Emmersley, beginning to turn 
 the horse around. Neither looked back, and it 
 was many months before these two met again. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE events in this history thus far have not 
 been of a nature calculated to impress the reader 
 with the idea that something dreadful was just 
 about to occur; and neither has there been any 
 suggestion of that element of mystery which adds 
 so materially to the charm of many modern works 
 of fiction. These defects are greatly regretted, 
 and yet they afford a striking illustration of how 
 much lighter a task it is to write a book wherein 
 the author has only to wish for a character to 
 extricate him from some labyrinth of plot, and 
 straightway one appears, and, bowing submis- 
 sion, says, like the genie in the Arabian Nights, 
 "Master, I await your commands. All things are 
 possible with me." The villain in the play uses 
 dagger or pistol with an initial success which one 
 in real life, because of the density of population 
 and the great proneness of people to be about with 
 eyes and ears open just when they are not wanted, 
 could not hope to achieve. Even in books quick 
 action is demanded, and there must be a close con- 
 nection between cause and effect. Lovers are no 
 longer allowed to become estranged by the slow 
 process which most of us can look back to in our 
 own experience, and which was the reason why we 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 87 
 
 did not marry May, or Jack, whom we thought so 
 much of when we were younger than our oldest 
 boy is now. 
 
 And thus, having appeared before the audience 
 and made our little speech, poor as it is, for we 
 suffer much from stage fright, it is announced, 
 with regret, that there will be an intermission, 
 during which the people of the audience may move 
 about a bit, or even go out^ if they choose, no 
 return checks will be given at the door. To take 
 one more liberty, we lift an old familiar line from 
 the playbills, "A year is supposed to elapse." 
 
 It was a year in which Gardwell began the great 
 fight of his life, and it was an unhappy year for 
 Robert Emmersley, torn as he was by contending 
 emotions, and chafing under what he grew to con- 
 sider the cruelty of those whom he most loved and 
 respected. To tell the truth, it was the young 
 man's fault. He magnified his wrongs, which 
 were the result of his own pride and foolishness ; 
 and having allowed the time to pass when, by 
 advancing halfway, he could have regained the 
 friendship of Judge Dunn and the regard of Har- 
 riet, which had ripened almost into love, the 
 barrier between him ancl the family grew, like a 
 hedge, thicker and more bristling with thorns. 
 
 The worst fears of the judge as to the colt had 
 been realized. He was a stubborn and determined 
 man, and had not made matters any better by the 
 system to which he had subjected the animal. It 
 happened one morning, just at the period when the 
 
88 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 judge was struggling to overcome the spirit of the 
 runaway, that he and Emmersley met. It might 
 have been different had Emmersley chosen to act 
 otherwise than he did. But he put on an air of 
 great formality, greeted the judge in a coldly dis- 
 tant manner, and in every way behaved like the 
 distracted young man that he was. It set the iron 
 in the old judge, who had half made up his mind 
 to forgive Emmersley, after subjecting him to a 
 fatherly talk, and he vowed to have nothing fur- 
 ther to do with the young upstart, as he termed 
 him, and in whom he had been grievously disap- 
 pointed. But what caused the most bitterness to 
 Emmersley was the fact, as he supposed, that Har- 
 riet had looked upon him as a country dolt for hav- 
 ing caused the accident. "Accident," he thought. 
 "Ah, if she only knew how he had risked his life 
 to save hers! " But she should never know it from 
 him, and he was confident that Gardwell would 
 keep his word. 
 
 He had strange ideas of his own, had this young 
 lawyer of Bowerville, and one of them was to hold 
 in profound contempt the lover who won his mis- 
 tress by a display of physical prowess. He wanted 
 a woman to love him for himself, and not for 
 something that he might do in a moment of excite- 
 ment. 
 
 At occasional intervals Rufus took a drop too 
 much at the public house, and it was on one of 
 these occasions that he repeated to Emmersley a 
 remark that Harriet had made when her father 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE OV 
 
 explained the accident. On this occasion, also, 
 Rufus had given Emmersley a bit of his mind. 
 
 "I tell you, Bob Emmersley," he said, "if you 
 think you can make the old judge come around to 
 your halter, you are mightily mistaken. He ain't 
 that kind of a man. And the best thing you can 
 do is to just chase right after him, and tell him 
 you are sorry you spoilt that 'ar colt. Besides, 
 you didn't tell the truth," he added, shaking his 
 head. 
 
 "What's that ?" exclaimed Emmersley, some- 
 what startled. 
 
 "I mean what I say," continued Kufus. "I got 
 that bicycle back to town for you, and know what 
 I am talking about. There was n't either paddle 
 on it broke, an' you know it." 
 
 Emmersley passed a lonesome winter in Bower- 
 ville ; but in the following spring, it being presi- 
 dential year, he plunged into the thick of the po- 
 litical fight. He had heretofore been a member 
 of one of the old political parties, holding views 
 that were a trifle advanced, and which had made 
 some of his older associates view him askant, but 
 nevertheless as a good party man. The Populist 
 movement had just begun to make itself felt, and 
 to this party tEmmersley now turned. He was in 
 a mood peculiarly fitted to make him a leader in 
 the new movement, for he was dissatisfied with all 
 existing conditions. He was a good speaker, pos- 
 sessed of great personal magnetism, and as he grew 
 more and more radical in his views his following 
 
90 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 became stronger and stronger. His new attitude 
 alienated him still farther from the judge, who 
 even went so far as to write a communication to 
 the "Bowerville Gazette " which was aimed at Em- 
 mersley, and to which that young man replied in 
 a caustic manner, winding up with the declaration 
 that certain prominent men in the community did 
 not practice in public what they preached in pri- 
 vate, and that the sins of corporations were no sins 
 when they had been stamped with the approval of 
 a powerful political party. 
 
 Harriet was away all winter in a Vermont board- 
 ing-school for young ladies, and did not even 
 return for the holidays. She came back in the 
 latter part of June, a great deal more of a young 
 lady and less of the country girl she had been 
 when she went away. She met Emmersley shortly 
 after her return, and greeted him with a dignified 
 bow, but it was under circumstances which afforded 
 no chance of their speaking to each other, even 
 if either had so desired. She looked so beauti- 
 ful that Emmersley was thrown into a passion of 
 frenzy and rage against Gardwell, at whose door 
 he laid all his troubles. He gave vent to his rage 
 that night by making an address and denouncing 
 corporations, and the money power In general, in 
 such scathing words that his audience of farmers 
 was worked up to a high pitch of feeling. Em- 
 mersley had accepted the Populist nomination for 
 Congress, not with any hope of being elected, but 
 because he wished to be consistent. Heart and 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 91 
 
 soul he was soon in the midst of the campaign, 
 and worked day and night, principally for the 
 reason that it helped to divert his mind. 
 
 When Gardwell had returned to the city from 
 Bowerville (he never made a second visit to the 
 town), he was for once unable to come to a deci- 
 sion. He did not know whether to be glad or 
 sorry that he had gone there. He had certainly 
 had more experiences than he had expected, expe- 
 riences that partook somewhat of the nature of ad- 
 venture. Gardwell was what might be termed the 
 direct antithesis of an impressionist, and yet he 
 had been strongly impressed with three persons he 
 had met there Harriet, Emmerlsey and Judge 
 Dunn. So far as the last was concerned, he felt 
 well satisfied with his judgment in having taken 
 the pains to go out there, and secure his friend- 
 ship, and he felt confident that he had gained 
 that. The judge was a strong type of a strong 
 man, and such men come in handy to generals 
 who fight big battles. Men of blood and iron are 
 used in days of peace, and help to turn the tide of 
 victory to the side on which they are fighting. He 
 foresaw that by means of the butterfly hobby it 
 would not be a difficult thing for "him to keep in 
 touch with the judge for a long period. Even if 
 their friendship never reached any closer relations, 
 the judge would still be of material value to Gard- 
 well. He was in high standing with the men of 
 his district, and he belonged to the party that sent 
 representatives to the state legislature. On a 
 
92 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 pinch, a timely word from the judge to one of 
 these men might be worth a great deal to the cor- 
 poration interests represented by Gardwell. 
 
 Old as he was, and imbued with the doctrine 
 that nothing, not even gratitude, should ever inter- 
 fere with the achievement of a desired end, he 
 could not suppress a feeling of admiration for 
 young Emmersley. He recognized in him an en- 
 emy, and one who, armed with formidable weapons, 
 might prove a dangerous adversary. He saw that 
 the young country lawyer was possessed of an in- 
 domitable will, of an Anglo-Saxon steadfastness 
 in his likes and dislikes, and of a courage that 
 none could question. The figure of the stalwart 
 young rider dashing at the head of the runaway 
 horse gave him a thrill whenever he thought of it, 
 and his dislike for the young fellow grew apace in 
 proportion as the vision became more and more 
 vivid in his mind. 
 
 "I owe him a debt," he thought, "and, by Jove ! 
 I '11 pay it. But after that " and a cruel little 
 smile played around his mouth. 
 
 But what puzzled and annoyed Gardwell most 
 was this : Why did his thoughts continually keep 
 recurring to Harriet Dunn? This little country 
 miss was pretty, it was true, but Gardwell knew 
 hundreds of pretty women, many women that were 
 handsome, and even some that were beautiful. 
 And they had smiled on him, some of them, 
 and yet, despite all his efforts to forget her, the 
 image of Harriet Dunn, standing in the boat and 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 93 
 
 handling her fishing-rod, her eyes laughing, and 
 her face all smiles, came up in his mind when he 
 least expected it. He drove it away with a laugh 
 at first, and finally with a curse, but even that did 
 no good, and Gar dwell for a long time was haunted 
 by this apparition, a very pretty little ghost, 't is 
 true, but an annoying one, just the same. 
 
 It was a trifling but curious little incident that 
 impressed on Gardwell the fact that no matter 
 how much of a curb the will may use, the mind 
 will oftentimes run away. Several days after his 
 return from Bowerville, he came down one morn- 
 ing to find his typewriter clerk waiting for him. 
 
 "I can't quite make this out, Mr. Gardwell," 
 she said, holding a phonograph cylinder in her 
 hand. "Perhaps you had better put it back on the 
 machine and listen to it yourself." 
 
 Gardwell frowned. "This is somewhat serious, 
 Kitty; it may be something that should have been 
 attended to last night." 
 
 He placed the wax scroll on the phonograph, 
 adjusted the ear-tubes, and touched the button. 
 This is what he heard, in his own voice and in a 
 low, singing tone : 
 
 " Come, fishes, from the deep lagoon, 
 For you I cast lum, turn, turn spoon, 
 Come, great and small. 
 
 "You will understand that I want you to see 
 that Aid. W. doesn't vote against this measure. 
 
 " My hook is bated with the wish 
 That I may catch the largest fish 
 Lum, turn, turn, turn." 
 
94 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 Gardwell stopped the instrument, took the tube 
 from his ears, and, turning to the typewriter, said 
 icily: "You may leave this cylinder here, Miss 
 Mullins. That wiU be all." 
 
 When she had gone from the room, he was lost 
 in thought for several minutes. Then he took the 
 cylinder from the machine, carried it over to a 
 corner, and, crushing it in his hands, threw the 
 pieces into a waste-basket. 
 
 "Am I losing my mind?" he thought; "I, El- 
 liot Gardwell, to be bawling such nonsense into 
 a phonograph? I feel as if there was something 
 uncanny about that whole Bowerville trip. I can't 
 get it out of my head." 
 
 There is no telling how he would have suc- 
 ceeded, or what would have come of it, but just 
 at that time the long-threatened financial storm 
 broke. The warring interests of rival syndicates, 
 of one of which Gardwell was the head, had at 
 last brought the opposing factions face to face, 
 and there was great danger of a battle. Gardwell 
 was not ready for one. 
 
 With this peril staring him in the face, he ral- 
 lied to meet it with all the confidence and energy 
 of a Napoleon, and Gardwell was a great general 
 in these wars of the millionaires. He slept neither 
 night nor day for long periods, sometimes almost 
 a week. He went flying back and forth across 
 the continent, now in New York, the next day in 
 Washington, a week later back at home, only to 
 repeat the circuit again. There were councils of 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 95 
 
 war innumerable, ultimata were issued, and over- 
 tures for peace brought truces, while a skirmish 
 line of lawyers on both sides kept up a desultory 
 fire. Other lawyers laid mines and planted masked 
 batteries. Half a dozen times during the winter 
 and earlier summer months the daring and diplo- 
 macy of Gardwell alone prevented an open de- 
 claration of war. If he could only get time to 
 strengthen his intrenchments a little more, he 
 knew that they could not be carried by assault, 
 and he felt certain that he could not be starved 
 out ; for his base of supplies, the Trans- American 
 Eailroad, was beginning to pay. 
 
 But the road was not the only thing that Gard- 
 well was concerned about. He had many other 
 great interests to engross his attention, and they 
 all needed looking after. Besides, it was presi- 
 dential year, with a great election coming on, and 
 in bending his hand to politics Gardwell was cast- 
 ing an anchor to windward for all his interests. 
 He believed that by looking after the details, the 
 great things 'would look after themselves ; and he 
 never overlooked the smallest detail. 
 
 One of these was to keep up the correspondence 
 on butterflies with Judge Dunn, and he made it 
 a point to send him a specimen every now and 
 then, picked from the collection which he had 
 purchased just before his trip to Bowerville. He 
 knew what was going on in the Bowerville district, 
 just as he knew what was going on in every dis- 
 trict in the State. But he did not get any of his 
 
96 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 information from Judge Dunn, for their corre- 
 spondence related exclusively to butterflies and 
 muscallonge. It required only a few minutes, 
 with a copy of Le Conte's work on butterflies in 
 his lap, to dictate a lengthy letter to the judge, 
 and not a day passed but he dictated scores of 
 letters, just as trivial, to other men with whom he 
 wished to keep in touch. 
 
 But ten months of this kind of work had begun 
 to tell on Gardwell. He was thinner than he used 
 to be, and he found, every now and then, that he 
 was unable to concentrate his thoughts. His phy- 
 sician, who was a member of his club, observed 
 his failing condition, and warned him. 
 
 "Gardwell," he said, "you can't stand this 
 strain. You will go all to pieces the first thing 
 you know. What you need is a rest a six 
 months' vacation." 
 
 Gardwell laughed. "It is very easy for you to 
 talk about rest, but that is a prescription I can't 
 take now, doctor. You might just as well advise 
 me to take a trip to the moon." 
 
 "Very well," replied the doctor; "but remember 
 that I warned you in time, and if you don't profit 
 by it, you will take a trip and for aught I know 
 it may be to the moon." 
 
 It was along in the middle of August, and the 
 campaign was hot enough to match the days, when 
 Gardwell was walking from the club one afternoon 
 back to his office. As he crossed the street, a 
 man on a bicycle swung around the corner and 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 97 
 
 collided with a team. The rider was hurled to 
 the ground and trampled on by the horses. Ordi- 
 narily, Gardwell would not have stopped to con- 
 cern himself about a street accident. But this 
 one brought back to his mind in an instant the 
 vision of a frenzied horse, suddenly checked amid 
 a wreck of tangled spokes and bent tubing. He 
 pressed through the crowd that soon gathered, and 
 giving his card to the unfortunate rider, who was 
 not very badly injured, although his wheel was 
 wrecked, said, "Here is my address. In case you 
 need me as a witness, advise me." 
 
 When he reached his office, he seated himself 
 at his desk, and for several moments was lost in 
 thought. Finally he looked up and touched a 
 button. A clerk appeared at the door, and Gard- 
 well said : 
 
 "Telephone to Tusher, and tell him I want to 
 see him here at once." 
 
 Presiding at a caucus, bustling about in a con- 
 vention, or giving out news to a throng of report- 
 ers, Chairman Tusher, of the State Central Com- 
 mittee, was a very important personage. Walking 
 about in the rotunda of the Vista Hotel, with men 
 whispering in his ear, he was simply awe-inspiring, 
 but in the presence of Elliot Gardwell he shrank 
 several sizes. He carried all of his pomposity to 
 the threshold of Gard well's office, but when he 
 crossed that threshold he left it outside. 
 
 "I came at once, Mr. Gardwell," he said, tak- 
 ing a seat. "Is it something very important? " 
 
98 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Not particularly," replied Gardwell, turning 
 his chair and looking out of the window. "How 
 are things looking in the third district? " he asked 
 in careless tone, after a short silence. 
 
 " First - rate, first - rate," answered Chairman 
 Tusher. "There is a combination against us up 
 there, between the Populists and the other fel- 
 lows, but everything is looking first-rate. We will 
 carry the district, undoubtedly." 
 
 "Well, who is our nominee there?" 
 
 Tusher mentioned the name and added, " Stanch 
 man, too; good man, very strong man in the dis- 
 trict." 
 
 "Yes; I know him," said Gardwell. "Who is 
 the Populist nominee? " 
 
 "Oh, he is a young lawyer named Emmersley," 
 Tusher replied. "He cut quite a figure in the 
 spring elections, and caused considerable trouble, 
 but he is losing his strength, losing it very fast." 
 
 "Mr. Tusher," said Gardwell, swinging his 
 chair back to position, "I presume I may ask a 
 favor of you; in fact, I might say of the party." 
 
 "Certainly, certainly, anything you ask will be 
 granted; you know that without my saying it. 
 Anything that I can do will be done." 
 
 "Very well," said Gardwell quietly. "The fact 
 of the matter is, Mr. Tusher, I have no desire 
 to see Brad well elected in that district. You un- 
 derstand." 
 
 "Bradwell is a good man, Mr. Gardwell," said 
 Tusher, "and the man who is opposing him, this 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 99 
 
 Emmersley, is a rabid young demagogue of a 
 Populist. Why, he is making speeches every 
 night denouncing corporations, and, in fact, every- 
 body that has got a dollar and a half in his pock- 
 ets." 
 
 "Mr. Tusher," repeated Gardwell slowly, "I do 
 not want to see Mr. Bradwell elected in that dis- 
 trict. I don't want to see him in Congress. This 
 is between ourselves, and I am frank with you. 
 I do not want a dollar of my contribution to the 
 campaign fund, and I think I did my share " 
 
 "Certainly, certainly," interrupted Mr. Tusher. 
 
 "What is more, Mr. Tusher, I don't want any 
 campaign money spent there that can possibly be 
 avoided. Of course, I don't want it to be made 
 noticeable that we are not supporting Bradwell. 
 But you understand me." 
 
 "All right," replied Tusher. "But," he added, 
 laughing, "it will be an even fight, then. Em- 
 mersley hasn't got a dollar, and there isn't a cent 
 in the Populist campaign fund, so far as I can 
 find out." 
 
 "Well, let it go at that, then," said Gardwell. 
 "What's new?" 
 
 Tusher gave a glowing account of the prospects 
 of success and incidentally of the work that was 
 being done in the interest of certain senatorial 
 candidates. Gardwell cut the interview short, and 
 Tusher obsequiously bowed himself out, swelling 
 to his former size and importance as the door 
 closed. 
 
100 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 Gardwell sent for Stalker, and when he came 
 into the room, said : 
 
 " Stalker, here is a check for five hundred dol- 
 lars. It is payable to your order. I want you to 
 cash it here ; and on the mission which I shall ex- 
 plain to you, I want you to use all of your cus- 
 tomary tact and discretion. It won't do for any- 
 body mind you, I say anybody to know what 
 you do with this money. Do you understand? " 
 
 Stalker smiled. "Very well," he replied. 
 
 "I want you to take this money, and go out to 
 the third district, and put it where it will do the 
 most good," he hesitated for a second and cast 
 his penetrating eyes full on Stalker's face, 
 "where it will do the most good," he continued, 
 "for a man named Emmersley, running for Con- 
 gress on a fusion ticket." 
 
 Not a muscle of Stalker's face moved. He had 
 been too long in the service of Elliot Gardwell to 
 be surprised at anything where money was a 
 factor. 
 
 "I know a man right here in town who will 
 place it all right," he said. 
 
 "Very well," replied Gardwell; "use your own 
 judgment, but remember, no one must know where 
 it comes from." 
 
 When Stalker had left the room, Gardwell 
 arose, and, stretching his arms at full length above 
 his head, took a long breath. "There," he ex- 
 claimed, "I've paid off that debt, at last. One 
 vote in Congress won't cut any material figure, and 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 101 
 
 he will never be heard of again. One term as a 
 Populist congressman will fix him," and Gardwell 
 smiled. "No one can accuse Elliot Gardwell of 
 being ungrateful," he added, and the smile devel- 
 oped into a laugh. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE mellow light from a shaded electric globe 
 cast its gleam over the front room of one of the 
 Albemarle flats in Chiopolis. The room was well 
 furnished, not extravagantly, that is, but every- 
 thing about it indicated that the occupants pos- 
 sessed a refined taste, and sufficient money to 
 gratify it. Seated at a table, gazing intently at 
 a photograph which she held in her hand, was a 
 slender woman, about thirty years of age. She 
 was a remarkably prepossessing woman in looks, 
 having large lustrous eyes, an aquiline nose, and 
 hair of a tawny reddish hue, twisted into a Grecian 
 knot on the back of her head. The picture which 
 she held was that of a handsome man, with a pair 
 of black eyes that seemed to shoot their rays out 
 of the photograph into her own. 
 
 "Ah, Charles," she murmured, "when will the 
 day come when you and I can be together all the 
 time, instead of seeing each other only once a 
 week, and then sometimes missing ? But he '11 be 
 here to-night," she added, after a moment's re- 
 flection. Her face assumed a brighter look, and 
 getting up she placed the picture on the mantel. 
 "He'll be here to-night," she repeated, "for this 
 is Saturday night my Saturday night." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 103 
 
 She had hardly finished speaking when she 
 heard the hall door open, and the next minute she 
 was clasped in the arms of Charles Windrift. 
 
 "Oh, I am so glad to see you, darling," she 
 cried, clinging to his neck. "I grow so nervous 
 every Saturday night when you are not here at 
 eight o'clock. I don't know what makes me feel 
 so, but I watch the clock and am filled with a 
 thousand fears the minute you are late." 
 
 "You mustn't allow that," he replied, kissing 
 her, and stroking her hair. "I came in on the 
 Monon route, and the train was half an hour late." 
 
 "I am glad you are here, safe and sound," she 
 said, "and I don't mind the half hour. But come, 
 supper is ready, and has been for quite a while." 
 
 She led him out into the cosy dining-room, and 
 tapped a bell, in response to which a neatly 
 dressed servant appeared, bowed, and retired again 
 to the kitchen. 
 
 Delia Windrift knew that her husband was a 
 secret service man, connected with some branch of 
 the federal government, and that his duties kept 
 him on the road most of the time ; but he generally 
 managed to be with her on Saturday nights. 
 Sometimes his duties took him to the East, New 
 York, Washington, Philadelphia, or Boston, and 
 on these trips he never failed to telegraph to his 
 wife. While in Western territory, however, it 
 was different, and he had explained to her that 
 the peculiar nature of his business made it impos- 
 sible for him to communicate with her in any way 
 
104 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 while in the country contiguous to Chiopolis. 
 They had lived in this way for three years, and it 
 is probable that there was not a happier woman 
 in the city than Delia Windrift. Her husband's 
 salary, he had told her, was not large, but the 
 allowance that he gave her was amply sufficient to 
 pay the rent of the flat, and to keep it up in first- 
 class style. A year previous, after some little 
 opposition on her husband's part, she had suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining his permission to engage in 
 newspaper work upon the "Daily Forum." Her 
 efforts to secure a position on the paper, however, 
 had not been successful, until, finally, her husband 
 had said : " Well, Delia, so long as you are deter- 
 mined to go to work on a newspaper, I might as 
 well help you. I will give you a letter to the 
 editor-in-chief of the 'Forum' on one condition, and 
 it is a hard one to impose on a woman." 
 
 "What is that? " she had asked; "I '11 agree to 
 it if it will get me a position. Why, just think 
 how much money we can save. I could put by 
 every cent that I earned, and in a short time we 
 would have a nice little bank account. Then you 
 can get a vacation, and I will take you for a trip." 
 
 "The condition is this," Windrift had said. "I 
 will give you a letter to the editor-in-chief of the 
 'Forum' sealed. You are to present it to him, 
 and under no conditions are you to ask any ques- 
 tions or read the letter. Do you give me your 
 word? " 
 
 "I do why, of course I do, darling." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 105 
 
 "Very well," was his answer; "you are the 
 only woman I know who can keep her word." 
 
 He gave her the letter. At first, when she had 
 presented it, the editor had treated her very coolly ; 
 but after he had opened and read it, he jumped 
 up, and, giving her a seat, said : " Why, certainly, 
 Mrs. Windrift. I shall be pleased to give you a 
 chance here. When do you want to go to work? " 
 
 "At once," she answered. 
 
 "Very well, you may come to-morrow." And 
 from that day she had been holding the position. 
 
 An ability to write good English, an instinct 
 for news, and a pleasing personality, which did 
 not impress everybody with the sometimes unpleas- 
 ant fact that there was a woman about the office, 
 had made her a success from the beginning. At 
 first she worked on space, that is, she was paid by 
 the column for what she wrote, but as she im- 
 proved, and the amount that she wrote increased, 
 it was deemed a wise move on the part of the 
 managing editor to place her on the regular staff, 
 and she had been drawing a fair salary for the 
 last eight months. She wrote up the fashions and 
 articles about women, and had even now and then 
 picked up a news "story." She was as much in 
 love with her work as she was with her husband, 
 and that is saying a great deal. 
 
 "I have been complimented on my work again," 
 she said gayly, as she poured the tea ; " in fact, I 
 have received so many compliments that I fear 
 you will be jealous if I tell you about them." 
 
106 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Oh, not at all," said Windrift, laughing. 
 "Nothing can make me jealous of you." 
 
 " Well, the story that I wrote on Lillian Kus- 
 sell's hose created a sensation. Even the city 
 editor look pleased, and the managing editor com- 
 plimented me." 
 
 "I read it in Louisville," remarked Windrift. 
 
 "Why, how is that? It was published to-day." 
 
 "Oh, that's so," said Windrift; "I got it on 
 the train. The day has been such a long one 
 that I thought I had read it yesterday." 
 
 "But that isn't all," she burst out; "I 've been 
 promoted that is, I am to have a higher class of 
 work. I have an assignment for next week, and 
 what do you suppose it is? " 
 
 "I can't possibly guess," Windrift replied. 
 "Newspapers print everything nowadays." 
 
 "I am to do the divorce cases, and write them 
 up from a woman's standpoint. My! but won't 
 I make a sensation. It was my own idea, too. 
 I suggested that divorce cases were being written 
 up week after week, and year after year, by men, 
 most of them unmarried men, who don't know 
 anything about it. I thought it would be a good 
 plan to have them written up by a woman, and 
 presented from her standpoint." 
 
 "Be careful, my dear, that you don't get into 
 a divorce court as one of the principals yourself," 
 said Windrift, with a laugh. 
 
 "Well, I wouldn't know what to do if it should 
 come to that," she replied saucily. "I don't see 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 107 
 
 you often or long enough to be able to serve papers 
 on you." 
 
 "Yes, it is hard," he said; "but you do not 
 feel it more than I do. God knows that I wish 
 I had nothing to do, my dear, but to sit here at 
 home with you." 
 
 She jumped up, and, running around the table, 
 threw her arms about his neck and kissed him. 
 
 "I know you do, darling, I know you do," she 
 cried; "and some day we will live together that 
 way. And yet I am happy, oh ! so happy. Just 
 think of it, I have nearly four hundred dollars in 
 the bank now, and you have got a steady position, 
 and if we keep on, we shall become rich. Just 
 think of it, Charles." 
 
 They passed a pleasant evening together, billing 
 and cooing like lovers, although Mr. Windrift was 
 very much fatigued. The next day he lounged 
 around the little flat, reading the newspapers and 
 smoking, for he seldom went out when at home. 
 He was cautious about making acquaintances, and 
 did not care to be seen much while in the city, 
 which, as she very well understood, was on account 
 of his business. He always made it a point to 
 leave at night, sometimes in the neighborhood of 
 eight o'clock, and sometimes staying as late as ten. 
 He had been known on several occasions even to 
 wait and catch one of the fast mail-trains out, at 
 four o'clock in the morning. On this visit he 
 waited for the 10.30 train. 
 
 "I am not feeling very well, Delia," he said, 
 
108 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 when he left her; "this staying up nights and 
 traveling about without regular sleep is beginning 
 to tell on me." 
 
 "Yes, Charles," she answered, "I have noticed 
 it, although I wouldn't say anything. What you 
 need is a rest. Can't you make some arrangement 
 to get it?" 
 
 "There is no rest for me," he resumed; "at 
 least not for a while. Now, be a good girl, and 
 be careful you don't get mixed up on that divorce 
 business. It is barely possible that I won't be 
 able to reach here next Saturday night." 
 
 "Oh, Charles," she cried, "do come if you can. 
 It 's the only bright spot I have in my life. Oh, 
 I don't mean that," she cried, noticing the shadow 
 that crossed his face. "It is bright enough week 
 days, but it is brighter on Saturday night and 
 Sunday, when you are here." 
 
 He kissed her good-by, and went out. 
 
 "Alone again," she thought, as she walked 
 back into the cosy little parlor. "Here I am, a 
 woman that has everything she wants except her 
 husband, and there are hundreds and hundreds of 
 other women in the city who have nothing that 
 they want excepting their husbands and some of 
 them don't want them very bad, either. What a 
 queer combination ours is, after all: Charles in 
 the secret service, and I on the bureau of pub- 
 licity. He keeps everything from everybody, and 
 I tell everything to everybody." 
 
 Delia Windrift was by far the most popular 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 109 
 
 woman that had ever worked on the "Daily 
 Forum." She had a desk of her own, and in the 
 same room were the sporting editor and Chubly, 
 the artist. At first, the sporting editor, a grizzled 
 veteran, had strenuously objected to being put in 
 the same room with a woman, or rather to having 
 a woman put in the same room with him, for he had 
 occupied that apartment for years. 
 
 ""That's all right, McGuire," said the manag- 
 ing editor. "What you need is toning down a 
 little bit yourself, and besides, it will be a sort 
 of a check on some of your constituents. They 
 make too much noise, anyway. They disturb the 
 literary critic in the next room. You will find 
 her a very nice person. She isn't a bit squeam- 
 ish." 
 
 McGuire held out for a month, simply greeting 
 her whenever they chanced to meet, but at the end 
 of that time he capitulated. McGuire had two 
 callers one day, a baseball player and a boxer. 
 They were smoking when they came in, but they 
 threw their cigars away when they saw a woman 
 sitting in the corner. McGuire shrugged his shoul- 
 ders, and gave them a wink. His back was turned 
 to Delia Windrift, but she understood it. Reach- 
 ing up, she opened a little drawer in her desk, 
 and took out three cigars. Then she got up, and 
 walking over said, with a smile: "Gentlemen, 
 please smoke. This is a newspaper office, not a 
 parlor. Besides, I like the odor of a good cigar," 
 she added, with a laugh. 
 
110 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 After that McGuire was Delia Windrift's 
 champion in the office, and he came very near 
 punching the head of a fresh young reporter who 
 made a coarse jest in reference to her. The 
 tongue lashing that McGuire administered to the 
 youngster in a vernacular of which he was thor- 
 ough master when aroused made such an impres- 
 sion that no one in the office dared to say a word 
 in criticism of Delia Windrift when he was 
 around. And he even went so far as to take up 
 any derogatory or insinuating remarks that were 
 made when he was not present. 
 
 Little Chubly was of a different type. He was 
 an Englishman, and from a good family. Coming 
 over to New York, he had expected to secure em- 
 ployment at once, but had been unsuccessful. He 
 gradually drifted to Chiopolis, working at all sorts 
 of odd jobs, and, happening one day to see a pecu- 
 liarly atrocious illustration in one of the papers, 
 remembered that in his school days he had taken 
 several prizes for drawing. He forthwith went to 
 making sketches, and, going to a newspaper office, 
 submitted them to the city editor. The result 
 was that after some persistence he was given a 
 trial, and now held a steady position as one of 
 the staff of artists on the "Forum." He had been 
 with them three or four years ; but being of a re- 
 tiring nature, no one had come to know him inti- 
 mately. He became known as "Silent Chubly," 
 and one of the staff once remarked: "There's a 
 combination for your life, that Chubly. Never 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 111 
 
 says a word, and never writes a word, and yet he 
 gets a bigger salary than half the newspaper men 
 in the city." 
 
 "True, but his pictures speak for him," some 
 one said. "That 's what they do," was the reply. 
 "I'd rather be roasted for two columns by the 
 best ink slinger in Chiopolis than to have Chubly 
 do me up with one of his cartoons." 
 
 Chubly was awed when Delia Windrift was first 
 given a desk in his room. For days and days he 
 sat there, and drew and drew at his board, and 
 never looked up excepting to say "good -morning" 
 when she came, or "good-evening " when she went 
 away at night. 
 
 But Delia Windrift was n't the kind of woman 
 to let that state of affairs exist very long. Grad- 
 ually, but slowly and surely, she wore away the 
 reserve of the bashful young artist, until finally 
 they became the best of friends. In fact, Chubly 
 almost worshiped her. He also was a champion 
 of Delia's. The only time anybody in the office 
 ever heard him speak loud enough to be heard 
 through a telephone was when a drunken constit- 
 uent of the sporting editor had invaded the room 
 and used profane language in her presence. 
 
 "You villain!" he shrieked, jumping up and 
 grabbing a pair of long exchange shears. "Leave 
 this room instantly, or you will never live to whip 
 the sporting editor that you are talking about. 
 Get out of this, you villain, or I will stick these 
 through you." 
 
112 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 And so ferocious and determined was the aspect 
 of little Chubly, that the inebriated sport beat a 
 hasty retreat, closely pursued by Chubly, who saw 
 him safely on the elevator. And the last words 
 that he heard as he was dropped down to the lower 
 landing, were the shrill tones of Chubly: "By 
 Jove, sir, I will assassinate you, if you ever come 
 up here again and use such language in the pres- 
 ence of a lady. Elevator boy, don't ever let that 
 man come up here again, or I will settle with 
 you." Then Chubly subsided. 
 
 "Thank you, Mr. Chubly," said Delia, when 
 he came back and seated himself at his drawing- 
 board. 
 
 " I 've a sister in the old country," replied Chubly 
 half apologetically; "I was thinking of her." 
 
 "Oh," exclaimed Delia, "then it was not for my 
 sake at all." 
 
 "Yes," stammered Chubly, growing very red 
 in the face, "it was on account of you. The fact 
 is, you are the only one that thinks that I shall 
 ever become an artist." 
 
 "I do think that," said Delia; "I think your 
 drawing is artistic, and that you show improve- 
 ment every day. But you must also remember 
 that you are the only one who thinks I am going 
 to become a good newspaper man ! " 
 
 "Oh, no, I ain't," said Chubly. "I hear the 
 fellows talking about you every night or so over at 
 Boyle's. Most of them say you are all right, and 
 that means a good deal with those fellows." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 113 
 
 From that time on Delia and Chubly were com- 
 rades, and the relationship grew closer day by 
 day. He gave her little pointers and "tips," as 
 he called them, as to how to bring out the strong 
 points in her stories. And in return she made 
 suggestions in reference to sketches and illustra- 
 tions, particularly where woman's attire was con- 
 cerned, which he found very valuable. But it 
 was when Chubly was assigned to illustrate some 
 of Delia's own work that his genius found inspira- 
 tion, and so noticeable was the result that the 
 managing editor remarked: "Great Scott! if I 
 could have Chubly illustrate other people's work 
 the way he does Mrs. Windrift's, I 'd have the 
 town afire. He 's a wonder when he does his best. 
 I wonder whether she 'd marry him," he contin- 
 ued, his business instinct coming to the front; 
 "they 'd make a team that would beat the world." 
 
 And if the truth be told, poor little Chubly 
 himself was forever dreaming dreams and building 
 castles in the air which always had room for two. 
 For he had somehow got it into his head, and, in 
 fact, it was the general supposition around the 
 "Forum " office, that there was no "Mr. Windrift " 
 on this side of the grave. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 SELF-DECEIT is a narcotic which the strongest 
 minds sometimes administer to themselves, and 
 under its influence the most ignoble acts take on 
 the guise of merit. It was so with Gardwell. 
 While he closely followed the political events of 
 the year, and was well posted on the situation in 
 every district of the State, he was not infallible, 
 and nothing is so uncertain as the result of a po- 
 litical campaign. Coldly calculating, he would 
 not have given a straw for Robert Emmersley's 
 chances of being elected in the old third congres- 
 sional district, but it afforded him gratification to 
 think that he had done that young man a great 
 favor ostensibly with the highest of motives, and 
 in answer to the promptings of a feeling which 
 had hitherto been accorded a scant hearing, that 
 of gratitude. At any rate, he stood to win, no 
 matter which way the returns came in. Should 
 Emmersley be elected, the greater would be his 
 sacrifice for the man who had saved his life at the 
 risk of his own, while on the other hand, should 
 he be defeated, it would not be his fault. He had 
 done all that he could do, had paid his debt, and 
 no harm could come of it. But he had made a 
 slight miscalculation, or rather he had not calcu- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 115 
 
 lated at all on the zeal with which Chairman 
 Tusher served him first and his party afterwards, 
 and neither had he given Stalker credit for increas- 
 ing the purchasing power of five hundred dollars 
 to the extent that he was capable of when person- 
 ally interested in its expenditure. 
 
 Stalker had asked no questions, but he surmised 
 that Chairman Tusher had not been consulted ; and 
 as that gentleman, not knowing Stalker's real 
 position and actual occupation, had snubbed him 
 on several occasions, he resolved to do his utmost 
 to defeat Bradwell, whom he knew to be one of 
 Tusher 's friends. Tusher, however, was bound by 
 no ties of friendship or party fealty when his own 
 interests were involved, and he at once went to 
 work, first to withdraw support, as Gardwell had 
 dictated, and then by positive efforts to secure 
 Brad well's defeat, efforts which were none the 
 less effective because they were not openly made. 
 
 In the meantime, Stalker also was at work, and 
 so cunningly did he expend the five hundred dol- 
 lars intrusted to him that before it was half gone, 
 there was a well-defined rumor in the district that 
 the money of large corporations was being spent 
 with an open hand to secure the defeat of Rob- 
 ert Emmersley, the farmers' choice. Emmersley 
 heard these rumors, and believed them, backed as 
 they were by his own knowledge that an agent of 
 the Trans-American Railroad and other corpora- 
 tion interests had been in the district, and had 
 approached certain men with money. Some of 
 
116 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 these, in fact, had not only accepted the money, 
 but had straightway carried the news into the 
 other camp. Emmersley was thus spurred to even 
 greater exertion, and he openly charged that he 
 was being fought by the money power from the 
 great city. While he did not mention his suspi- 
 cions to any one, he was nevertheless confident in 
 his own mind that the man who was fighting him 
 was none other than Gardwell. This did not sur- 
 prise him at all ; but he reasoned bitterly with him- 
 self that had he not been forced to place the cor- 
 poration magnate under obligations to him, he 
 would have been less likely to suffer at his hands 
 now. 
 
 As for Judge Dunn's attitude, he was a strict 
 party man, and as the campaign grew hotter in 
 the district, his own ardor grew apace. The old 
 war spirit was wakened in him, and he finally sal- 
 lied forth, once more, as he thought, to do battle 
 for his country. On every side he met the same 
 arguments against corporations which he had used 
 for years, and he soon found himself in a decidedly 
 unpleasant position. He made several campaign 
 speeches, but had invariably been interrupted by 
 people in the audience who wanted to know why 
 he didn't talk now the way he had talked a year 
 ago. On his replying that national issues were 
 involved in the present campaign, and that reforms 
 would be effected within the party and not outside 
 of it, he was greeted with hoots of derision. 
 
 On the last occasion when he addressed a mass 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 117 
 
 meeting, a man in the audience had shouted, 
 "That 's all right, judge, but you hain't been the 
 same since you had that fellow Gardwell here from 
 Malton, a hobnobbing 'round with him, and tak- 
 ing him out fishing and having him up to your 
 house." This sally was greeted with laughter and 
 applause, which so incensed the judge that, old 
 man though he was, it would have gone hard with 
 the fellow could he have laid hands on him. But 
 he made no more speeches. He took it out on 
 Emmersley, however, in the family circle, and 
 even went so far as to express surprise to Harriet 
 that she had ever looked with favor on such an 
 addle-pated young anarchist as Robert Emmers- 
 ley. Harriet made no reply, but that night she 
 cried herself to sleep, thinking of the many happy 
 hours she had spent with Eobert. It had been a 
 lonesome summer for her, and she, too, 'had laid 
 her troubles at Gardwell' s door. "Dear! dear!" 
 she cried. "I don't know what it is all about 
 anyway. Papa and Robert used to get along so 
 nicely together, and I can't see that Robert has 
 changed any; he always used to talk that way." 
 
 The summer wore along, and it was only a few 
 days before election when something happened 
 that disarranged the plans that Gardwell had 
 worked so hard to lay and consummate. It was 
 a blow from an unexpected source, dealt by the 
 Angel of Death. Gardwell had been in particu- 
 larly good spirits for several weeks. His faction 
 in the Trans-American Company was in the as- 
 
118 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 cendency; and even should the opposition again 
 obtain control, he had in reserve a trump card for 
 a final coup. This card was now taken from him. 
 As he came down from his office and out to the 
 street on his way to the club for luncheon, a news- 
 boy dashed up to him and cried, "Extry! Paper! 
 All about the death of Judge Frezett!" It was 
 like some one plunging a dagger into his breast. 
 A tremor shook his frame, and his lips tightened 
 and grew ashen gray, but it was only for an in- 
 stant. He handed the boy a nickel and said, 
 "Give me a paper, my son." 
 
 In black headlines he read, "Called to a Higher 
 Court! Judge Frezett stricken with Apoplexy 
 while on the Bench!" He folded the paper and 
 put it into his pocket and walked to the club. On 
 the way he was stopped by a number of acquaint- 
 ances, Who spoke of the judge's sudden death, and 
 to whom Gardwell expressed himself in a conven- 
 tional way, showing neither more nor less of feel- 
 ing than was strictly due on such an occasion. At 
 the club, contrary to his usual custom, he secured 
 a table by himself in one corner of the dining-room ; 
 and while he ordered very freely, the waiter observed 
 that he ate sparingly, and was lost in thought. 
 
 "They are hard to find hard to find," he 
 muttered over his coffee, "a good lawyer without 
 a corporation taint, but I must find one." 
 
 The Trans-American Railroad was the offspring 
 of an enormous government land - grant. This 
 grant was secured by a man named Wilier, who 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 119 
 
 gathered about him a number of heavy capitalists. 
 It extended over thousands of miles of the finest 
 farming, timber, and mining lands in the world, 
 and gave to the company every second section. 
 On the strength of these land-grants bonds were 
 sold and money obtained with which to build the 
 road. Right here began a system of financiering 
 which some had dared in open court to call rank 
 robbery. Wilier and his more intimate associates, 
 among whom was Gardwell, at once organized a 
 construction company, to whom they let contracts 
 at liberal figures for building the road. The price 
 paid per mile was from ten to fourteen thousand 
 dollars, while it was estimated that eight thousand 
 dollars a mile would have been a fair price. Wil- 
 ier and his associates took their pay in construction 
 bonds which had not been sold by the company, 
 and with these they raised the cash for the labor 
 and material used in the work. The profits they 
 divided among themselves according to the amount 
 of bonds held by each. The main line once built, 
 it was found to be of no value, for it had no 
 feeder ; so the same clique went to work to build 
 feeders, organizing some thirty different construc- 
 tion companies, through as many different locali- 
 ties. These companies were organized on the same 
 plan as that of the original company, which built 
 the main line, and they were organized and man- 
 aged by Wilier and his associates, although their 
 names did not appear. 
 
 When a branch line was finished, there would 
 
120 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 be a meeting of the directors of the parent com- 
 pany, and some member on the inside of the deal 
 would move that a committee be appointed to ex- 
 amine into the branch line and the feasibility of 
 purchasing it. The report would invariably favor 
 the purchase, and the main company would then 
 assume all debts and bonds of the branch line, 
 and pay cash to the owners of it, the money for 
 this coming out of the sale to the public of new 
 bonds of the main line. 
 
 But murder will out, and in the course of time 
 some of the directors and capitalists who were 
 not let into these profitable deals grew suspicious 
 and fault-finding. The company was unable to 
 pay interest on the bonds which had been sold, 
 and European investors began to look into the 
 affairs, aided by American investors, who were 
 also dissatisfied with the way in which matters had 
 been conducted. A strong minority was organ- 
 ized, headed by a man named Trine. After three 
 years of minority fighting, Trine organized a syn- 
 dicate, got control of the majority of the original 
 stock, had himself elected president, and assumed 
 control with the avowed purpose of inaugurating 
 a general reform. Trine caused an investigation, 
 which put Wilier in disgrace ; but no sooner was 
 he himself sure of his seat in the saddle than he 
 went to work to build more branch lines on exactly 
 the same plans as his predecessors. But Wilier 
 was not a man to tamely lie down under defeat, 
 especially with such a lieutenant as Gardwell on 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 121 
 
 his staff, and he went immediately to Europe. 
 By some great power (it has been asserted that he 
 was a hypnotist, and taught the art to several of 
 his associates) he convinced the European bond- 
 holders that he was trustworthy, with the result 
 that he reappeared in America, a year later, backed 
 by a syndicate of bondholders of such strength that 
 they were enabled to capture a majority of the 
 stock by buying it in open market. 
 
 Trine was deposed, and Wilier and Gardwell 
 put in, as a figure-head, a man named Bass. 
 Again in power, Wilier and Gardwell very soon 
 realized that they had an elephant on their hands, 
 and one which they could not control. The case 
 was a desperate one, and Gardwell foresaw that 
 sooner or later the Trine faction would again ob- 
 tain control, and as his last card he had resolved 
 to throw the great road and all its tributaries into 
 the hands of a receiver, through the federal court. 
 Judge Frezett had been selected by Gardwell as 
 the man to issue the decree, and his sudden death 
 was a blow as crushing, for the moment, as it was 
 unexpected. 
 
 After he had finished his luncheon, Gardwell 
 repaired to the reading-room, where, though the 
 body of the judge was not yet cold, his friends 
 were discussing his probable successor on the 
 bench. Many names were mentioned, names of 
 lawyers prominent in the city and of high stand- 
 ing. 
 
 "This is a sad blow for you, Gardwell," said 
 
122 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 one of the young club members, who was a little 
 the worse off for liquor; "it won't be easy to get 
 another like him." 
 
 The speaker was the son of a rich old man. 
 
 "Yes," said Gardwell, affecting not to see the 
 meaning glances that were exchanged by some of 
 the older members, "yes, indeed. I don't know 
 any one that I like to play whist with as well as I 
 did with Judge Frezett." 
 
 As soon as he returned to his office, and he did 
 not hurry more than usual, Gardwell sent a dozen 
 telegrams, in cipher, to Eastern points, and then 
 engaged in a long talk, by telephone, with Wilier, 
 who was then in New York city. In the evening 
 he attended a conference at which were present a 
 half dozen of the wealthy men of the city, who were 
 largely interested in corporations both local and 
 elsewhere. Gardwell at first took little part in 
 the discussion. A dozen or more of the leading 
 lawyers in the city and State were mentioned. At 
 the name of each, Gardwell shook his head, but 
 said nothing. Finally, arising and pacing up 
 and down the room where they were gathered, he 
 said : 
 
 "Gentlemen, let us be frank about this. All 
 the men whom we have mentioned are very esti- 
 mable gentlemen, and nearly all of them good 
 lawyers, but there is one fatal objection." 
 
 He paused, as if hesitating to state it. 
 
 "Well, what is that, Gardwell?" some one 
 asked. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 123 
 
 "They all have had, or now have, corporation 
 connections," was his reply. 
 
 "Well, that's good, coming from you, Gard- 
 well," cried a man who owned more telephone 
 stock than any other man in the Northwest. 
 "Have you been reading Bob Schilling's paper? " 
 
 "No," replied Gardwell, raising his finger, and 
 shaking it in the air; "but I have been reading 
 the signs of the times, gentlemen. Let us drop 
 all feelings and consult the conditions. Whether 
 right or wrong, the fact remains that at the pres- 
 ent time, there is a strong and growing sentiment 
 against corporations. We cannot afford, gentle- 
 men, to put a man on the bench, in Judge Fre- 
 zett's place, of whom it can be said that he was 
 ever, at any time, connected with corporations, or 
 showed even a leaning in their favor." 
 
 "I don't know how we are going to get a good 
 lawyer, a man competent to fill the position, if we 
 shut out every one who ever did legal business for 
 a corporation," said one of the gentlemen. "All 
 nonsense! " 
 
 "I'll admit they are few and far between," 
 replied Gardwell. " I have been trying to think of 
 one ever since I heard of Frezett's death, and I 
 confess I have been unable to find the right man." 
 
 "Then I for one," sputtered a little man named 
 Polworth (a little man physically, but financially 
 a big millionaire), "I for one am willing to fight 
 it out right now. If we are going to be dictated 
 to by a lot of farmers and clerks and Populists, 
 
124 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 and God knows what, why, then it is about time 
 that we retire from business. I would put in the 
 worst corporation man that I could get. I think 
 a man who has worked for corporations all his life 
 is the man that should decide such cases. What 
 cases come up in the federal courts? They are 
 corporation cases. We ought to have a corpora- 
 tion man to decide them. It is all nonsense put- 
 ting some fellow there that has never had any 
 business or experience. I for one am ready now 
 to make the fight. I think the time has come 
 when we should make the fight." 
 
 "The fight, when it does come, will probably 
 be decided by the ballot," Gardwell said quietly. 
 "And here is a book, Mr. Polworth, which I com- 
 mend to you. Open it at any page and read. It 
 is not a particularly interesting work, but it teaches 
 a great deal." He handed a copy of the Malton 
 City Directory over to Mr. Polworth. "You will 
 observe," he added, "that opposite the names of 
 the people in this book their occupations are given, 
 and that a large percentage of them are laborers." 
 
 "This anti-corporation cry is all nonsense!" 
 burst out Mr. Polworth. "What we want is a 
 good strong man in Judge Frezett's place, and the 
 business will be shoved out just as fast as it comes 
 up. Wlien it comes right down to it," he said, 
 looking around, "I, for one, would be willing to 
 do all in my power to put Mr. Gardwell himself 
 on the bench. He 's a lawyer, and I don't see 
 why he should not go on." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 125 
 
 "Thanks," said Gardwell, "but I will have to 
 plead previous business engagements. I agree 
 with Mr. Polworth that we need a strong-minded 
 and fearless man, and I think possibly that we can 
 find one by looking about a little. What we want, 
 however, as I said before, is a man who has had 
 no previous corporation affiliations. Gentlemen," 
 he exclaimed, warming up, "I care not what this 
 man's previous affiliations may have been, bring 
 him in here and put him on the federal bench, 
 and if he is a man of strong character I want 
 no weakling I will guarantee you that his en- 
 vironment will in the course of six months place 
 him in a position where he can see what is the 
 right side in these matters. Think how much 
 stronger we shall be if we take a man of that 
 kind, and afterwards his decisions and rulings are 
 such as to treat us fairly." 
 
 "What do you mean by treating us fairly?" 
 asked Mr. Polworth excitedly. " What the pub- 
 lic calls fairly ? What the newspapers call fairly ? 
 I, for one, I say with Mr. Variderbilt, d n the 
 public." 
 
 "Yes," said Gardwell, "but we don't say it out 
 loud." 
 
 "I do, Mr. Gardwell, I say it out loud, and I 
 say it in German, and I say it in English and 
 French, too. I speak French, and I say it in 
 French. I have got three hundred men working 
 in one of my plants here, and they are each get- 
 ting a dollar and a quarter a day, and now they 
 
126 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 have the nerve to appoint a committee and come 
 and wait on me, and want to know if I won't give 
 them a dollar and forty -five cents a day, and I told 
 the chairman of the committee that I would see 
 him in h 1 first. And he walked out, and you 
 will probably see another case reported where the 
 corporation is grinding the poor workingman to 
 death. They say ' d n Pol worth, ' and now I am 
 going to say ' d n them ' right back. I don't 
 believe in this crawling policy, this stooping down 
 and putting a man on the bench that we are afraid 
 of. What if somebody does say that a judge, when 
 he was a lawyer, took a large fee from a man that 
 could afford to pay a large fee, a corporation ? I 
 want to see a corporation man go on now, and fight 
 it out. We are entitled to have a corporation man 
 on the bench now. I am willing to fight it out 
 now with these fellows." 
 
 Several gentlemen quieted the excited Mr. Pol- 
 worth, and Gardwell continued : 
 
 " If we place such a man as I speak of on the 
 bench, I think we shall find it advantageous to us 
 all around. A man who has been connected with 
 corporations in a legal capacity has felt the sting 
 and the power of public opinion, while other men 
 have not. Under these circumstances the man 
 who has not felt it is more apt to be fearless in 
 protecting property and property interests than 
 one who has. We represent some little interest 
 here," he said, looking around him. "Let us 
 agree not to take any action for, say, a couple of 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 127 
 
 weeks, and then let us meet again and see if we 
 have not found the right man. At any rate, it 
 will be wise to wait until after the election," he 
 added, with a smile. 
 
 "I yield to the majority," said Mr. Polworth 
 gracefully, and so it was decided that the men 
 who would really dictate the appointment of a 
 federal judge were not to take any active steps 
 towards choosing Judge Frezett's successor until 
 there should be another meeting. It was also 
 tacitly understood that every man whose name 
 might be mentioned as a possible candidate for the 
 position should be referred to as an eminently 
 proper man for the place, as was the usual custom. 
 
 Gardwell went to his apartments early, but he 
 did not go to bed. He liked to come to a decision 
 quickly in a fight, carefully make his plans, and 
 then follow them out. So he paced back and 
 forth in his room until long after midnight, turn- 
 ing over a problem in his mind, turning it over 
 and over again, and always coming up to the same 
 place, until finally, shortly before one o'clock, he 
 sank into a chair, and exclaimed : 
 
 "The die is cast! I can't be wrong! Judge 
 Tracy Dunn is the man." 
 
 He knew that he would meet with considerable 
 opposition from his associates at first, but resolved 
 to go about the matter carefully and systemati- 
 cally, having no doubt that in the end he would 
 bring them to his way of thinking. He had done 
 so for years, and he knew no reason why he should 
 
128 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 fail now. He resolved to encourage several candi- 
 dates and keep them fighting each other, at the 
 same time preserving the balance of power, so 
 that none of them should get the coveted place. 
 When these candidates had exhausted themselves, 
 it would be time to spring the name of Judge 
 Dunn, and before his name ever reached the pub- 
 lic it should be decided that he would receive the 
 appointment. He did not even know whether 
 Judge Dunn would accept the position, and he 
 even anticipated some possible difficulty in getting 
 his consent. For that reason he resolved to be in 
 a position to offer the appointment to him when 
 he should first approach him on the subject. He 
 dismissed the matter from his mind, having settled 
 it to his own liking, and for two weeks hardly 
 gave it a thought further than to keep an eye on 
 the various candidates and see that none of them 
 gained too strong a support. 
 
 It was election night, and Gardwell sat in his 
 office surrounded by a group of men who, like 
 himself, were interested in the results strictly from 
 a business standpoint. 
 
 Chairman Tusher had kindly made arrange- 
 ments for forwarding the returns as fast as re- 
 ceived at headquarters, and a squad of messenger 
 boys brought dispatches from the office of the 
 "Daily Watchman." The returns were, on the 
 whole, very satisfactory to Gardwell and his 
 friends, but here and there from different States 
 and localities came reports of reverses which indi- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 129 
 
 cated a change in popular sentiment. Gar dwell 
 sorted them out, made a list, and then read them 
 aloud. 
 
 "Gentlemen," he began, "in my opinion, these 
 are little storm -clouds which indicate the approach- 
 ing cyclone," and, he added pleasantly, "I would 
 rather be in a cyclone-cave when it comes, than 
 out in the open beating it with an umbrella, as 
 my friend Pol worth seemed so anxious to do." 
 
 "Possibly you overestimate the danger," said 
 one of the gentlemen. "These storm-clouds may 
 be merely little wet puffs which will blow over." 
 
 "Possibly," assented Gardwell. "But I am no 
 alarmist, and I don't fear the storm just at pres- 
 ent. It will be some time before it breaks on us. 
 Still, it 's better to be prepared for it when it does 
 come. Hello!" he exclaimed, glancing at a dis- 
 patch that he had just received, "here is one right 
 in our own State. The old third district has gone 
 Populist." 
 
 The news created something of a sensation. 
 
 "You don't mean to say that Bradwell is beaten, 
 do you?" exclaimed one of the gentlemen. 
 
 "Beaten by a Populist named Emmersburg, or 
 something of that sort," observed Gardwell. "And 
 beaten badly, too, according to these returns." 
 
 He picked up a blue book, and, glancing hur- 
 riedly over it, said: "There is no doubt, gentle- 
 men; these districts were all strongly in our favor 
 two years ago, and now they have been reversed. 
 If this ratio is carried up through the district, 
 
130 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 Bradwell will be snowed under. There is abso- 
 lutely no doubt but he is beaten. It was a mistake 
 to nominate Bradwell, and I knew it all the time. 
 He is the president of the telephone company in 
 Waterfurth, and largely interested in the street-car 
 line. That was enough to kill him this year. It 
 simply bears out what I have been saying." 
 
 "It is a great surprise to me," said one of the 
 gentlemen. "Bradwell has lived in the district 
 all his life, and I know that two years ago he was 
 one of the most popular men in it. He has founded 
 a public library, and given thousands of dollars to 
 charity. Why, he is known as a philanthropist." 
 
 "Even a philanthropist nowadays," said Gard- 
 well, " will not pass muster if he bears a corpora- 
 tion brand. And that reminds me that we have 
 not yet taken any action in regard to Judge 
 Frezett's successor. I have a man in view whose 
 name has not been mentioned in connection with 
 the office thus far, and if you gentlemen, and sev- 
 eral others whom I shall notify, can be here a 
 week from to-night, I shall be very glad to present 
 his name to you. If not acceptable, we can decide 
 on some one else. I can assure you of one thing, 
 though, and that is that he is a first-class lawyer, 
 a man of unimpeachable integrity, and one whom 
 no one can accuse of having ever shown any par- 
 tiality to corporations." 
 
 "I wonder," said Butterworth, a railroad man 
 who was walking arm in arm with Gardwell as the 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 131 
 
 party moved towards the club, " I wonder if Judge 
 Frezett is sitting up above there waiting for you 
 to come in and play whist with him ! " 
 
 "I don't know," said Gardwell; "but if he is, 
 he is liable to wait a long time. I 'm afraid that 
 after I die, I won't be where I can sit in the same 
 game with Frezett. Some of his leads would make 
 me think and say some things that would cause 
 my expulsion from the game." 
 
 "Gardwell," asked Butterworth, "what made 
 you always choose Frezett for a partner ? I often 
 used to wonder." And he cast a sly glance at 
 Gardwell. 
 
 "Butterworth," replied Gardwell, "you are no 
 spring chicken yourself. You won't tear under 
 the wings." 
 
 While Gardwell was to all appearances in the 
 lightest of moods and the best of health at all 
 times, he was morbid with internal anxiety. The 
 business complications of the Trans-American were 
 growing more and more troublesome, and he fore- 
 saw it would take all his efforts to prevent a crash. 
 It was when alone that he suffered most, and many 
 a night he had lain and tossed on his bed in wake- 
 fulness until the gray light came in through the 
 window. 
 
 "Gardwell," his physician had said, "if it 
 was n't for one thing, you would be a dead man 
 now." 
 
 "And what is that, pray?" asked Gardwell; 
 "I am always looking for news." 
 
132 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "The fact that you take one day of good solid 
 rest every week," replied the doctor. "If it 
 wasn't for that, you wouldn't have lasted this 
 long; you would have popped off two years ago." 
 
 The doctor referred to the fact that Gar dwell 
 never went to his office or to the club on Sundays. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE news that Robert Emmersley had been 
 elected to Congress from the third district, cre- 
 ated a sensation in Bowerville, and it was a pleas- 
 ant sensation too, if one half of the able-bodied 
 men of that city could be believed. In fact, from 
 the general talk on the day after election, when 
 the result became known, it was a source of sur- 
 prise that Emmersley had not received the entire 
 vote of the township. And one wondered how so 
 many of the voters had made a mistake and slipped 
 in a Bradwell ballot while intending to vote for 
 the young lawyer on the Populist ticket. 
 
 But Judge Dunn was not of this crowd of fair- 
 weather shouters. He was disgusted, and took no 
 pains to conceal his feelings. The vote was so 
 overwhelmingly in Emmersley 's favor, that it 
 showed a decidedly populistic sentiment in the 
 district, and one that had been largely brought 
 about, the judge was compelled to confess to him- 
 self, by his own teachings. What made it worse 
 was the fact that he had alliejl himself with the 
 opposition, and consequently for the first time in 
 twenty years found himself with the minority. 
 
 There was no doubt but the judge had lost 
 greatly in popularity by reason of his opposition 
 
134 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 to Emmersley. It was known that he had for- 
 merly been a great friend and patron of the young 
 lawyer, and had listened with approval to his de- 
 nunciation of corporations and the money power. 
 To follow this up by openly opposing him, in fact 
 campaigning against him, was a sin which many 
 of the old farmers could not forgive and would 
 not forget. The judge had laid by a few dollars 
 for a rainy day, and his mental barometer now 
 indicated moist weather ahead. It seemed ex- 
 tremely probable that he would not be reflected, 
 and the thought that he had enough for the sup- 
 port of himself and family for the rest of his days 
 was a consolation to him. The wants of himself 
 and family were few and simple. And yet it 
 chafed him to think that in all probability he 
 would soon be retired from public life by the men 
 who had always looked up to him and respected 
 him. 
 
 "You can't always tell how things are going to 
 turn out," said Rufus, talking to Betsy the day 
 after election. "Look at that young Emmersley; 
 if it had n't 'a' been for him a-ruiming that bicy- 
 cle of his'n up against the colt when that fellow 
 Gardwell was a-driving there, he wouldn't be a 
 United States congressman now. He would 'a' 
 been along with the judge, and they would 'a' 
 been the best of friends, and the judge would 'a' 
 told him not to run on that Populist ticket, and 
 he would 'a' done just as the judge told him, as 
 he always uster do." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 135 
 
 "Yes, and right now he'd give more, right 
 now, for one of Miss Harriet's little fingers than 
 for all the United States congressmen put to- 
 gether," snapped Betsy, with a shake of her head. 
 "He won't come to no good end with his stubborn 
 ways and his sinful pride." 
 
 "'Pears to me he is doing purty well now," re- 
 torted Rufus, with a chuckle. "I reckon he 'd 
 take me down there to Washington with him if I 
 wanted to go; he '11 need a clerk, you know." 
 
 "Clerk," cried Betsy, with a sniff. "You 'd 
 make a fine sight a-puttering around the halls of 
 Congress. Though I '11 allow Emmersley ain't 
 much better with his gangling ways and his carroty 
 hair. Did you vote for him ?" 
 
 "Me?" Rufus stammered. "You know what 
 party I belong to." 
 
 "I believe you did," continued Betsy. "In 
 fact, I'm sure on 't, the way you look. It 's the 
 same look that you 've got the morning after 
 you 've been drinking." 
 
 "Well, supposing I did?" said Rufus stoutly. 
 "Ain't you always talking against corporations? 
 and ain't the judge? and ain't I? and wasn't Bob 
 Emmersley down on corporations? Supposing I 
 did!" 
 
 "Supposing you did," repeated Betsy. "You 
 flew right into the face of what the judge wanted, 
 and you know it. 'Pears to me you and all the 
 rest of the men -folks in this county ain't got horse 
 sense ; if you had, you would pay some attention 
 
136 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 to what the judge had to say. You 've done purty 
 well doing that, hain't you, up to now? What 
 do you want to change for? " 
 
 "What's this?" exclaimed the judge, coming 
 around the corner of the house at that moment, 
 for this conversation had taken place in the back 
 yard. "Are you and Rufus quarreling over poli- 
 tics, too? I didn't know it had got as bad as 
 that, for the Lord knows it is bad enough." 
 
 "This good-for-nothing Rufus has gone and 
 voted for that young scamp of an Emmersley," 
 said Betsy, with an indignant frown. 
 
 "Well, never mind if he did, Betsy," said the 
 judge good-naturedly. "He had a perfect right 
 to do so, and if his conscience indicated that that 
 was the right course, why he did the proper thing." 
 
 "I voted anti-corporation, judge," Rufus con- 
 fessed, "but if I 'd 'a' thought you cared anything 
 about it, I wouldn't 'a' done it." 
 
 "This anti-corporation cry," said the judge, 
 "when used to advance selfish ends, is just as 
 'reprehensible as the corporations and the money 
 power themselves. I can't stand twaddle and 
 demagogism even in a good cause. But never 
 mind politics, Rufus. Thank Heaven we are over 
 that now, for a while. Just hitch up the old 
 mare to the buckboard, and we will take a run 
 down to Hemlock Lake after bass." 
 
 Emmersley wore his honors very modestly. He 
 received the congratulations of nearly every man, 
 woman, and child in Bowerville. He shook the 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 137 
 
 hands of farmers for miles and miles around the 
 town ; he was serenaded by a brass band ; he re- 
 sponded to numerous speeches delivered in his 
 honor and lauding him in unlimited terms, and he 
 read the complimentary notices in the local papers 
 with an inward feeling that he was n't half what 
 he was made out to be. He stood it for two days, 
 and then, packing up his shot-gun, went away for 
 a few days' rest. Sitting in a duck-blind on a 
 clear, bright day, he had plenty of time to think 
 matters over. After all, what was he going to do 
 when he got to Congress? What could he accom- 
 plish? He was not in sympathy with the more 
 rabid wing of the Populistic party, he believed in 
 a sound currency, and he had no desire to do away 
 with all corporations. He felt very bitterly towards 
 Gardwell, and when he thought of Gar dwell he 
 always wound up with thinking of Harriet. He 
 had never spoken words of love to the girl, but he 
 had thought them, from the days of his boyhood 
 up, .and had grown bolder and bolder in his 
 thoughts up to the time of the accident on the road 
 when Gardwell was driving the colt. 
 
 To himself, and within himself, and sacred from 
 other eyes, he was her lover. He wanted no one 
 else and cared for no one else, and furthermore he 
 was of that class who are never disappointed in 
 life for the reason that they never cease to hope. 
 When he returned to Bowerville he made it a 
 point to meet Judge Dunn. 
 
 "Judge," he said, extending his hand, "I wish 
 
138 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 to beg your pardon if I said anything that I 
 shouldn't in the heat of the campaign." 
 
 In his likes and dislikes, there always came a 
 time when Judge Dunn burned his bridges behind 
 him, and in this case he had already burned the 
 bridge. 
 
 "I should like to shake hands with Robert Em- 
 mersley," he said, drawing himself up pompously, 
 "but I do not care to know Wisconsin's only 
 Populist congressman. If he was a member from 
 Kansas I could pardon him." He turned on his 
 heel, and walked stiffly down the street. 
 
 This was the first and the last time that Robert 
 Emmersley ever used profane language. 
 
 "The d d old fool," he burst out. "That will 
 cost him his seat on the circuit bench, if my name 
 is Robert Emmersley." 
 
 He ground his teeth together, but a moment 
 later the tears came into his eyes. "God forgive 
 me," he cried. "I '11 never put an obstacle in his 
 way; he 's Harriet's father. But that sha'n't help 
 him," he burst out again in a few moments. "He 
 has probably poisoned her mind against me, any- 
 way, and that is something I can never forgive." 
 
 Poor fellow! he was torn by contending emo- 
 tions, and it is probable that not a defeated candi- 
 date from one end of the world to the other was 
 half as miserable as this young lawyer who was 
 going to Congress from the old third district. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 WHEN Elliot Gardwell was ready to act, he 
 always did so with a decision and force that car- 
 ried him through to victory with a rush. There 
 was no exception when he submitted the name of 
 Judge Dunn as successor to Judge Frezett. 
 Nearly all of the gentlemen present expressed sur- 
 prise, and several of them entered mild protests. 
 
 "Is this the same judge you were telling us 
 about in the club a year ago?" asked one of the 
 gentlemen. "You described him then as a regu- 
 lar Populist himself, a man who was down on 
 corporations, and who held them guilty of all the 
 crimes on the calendar." 
 
 "The same," said Gardwell quietly. 
 
 "Then why do you pick him out?" asked the 
 gentleman, in some surprise. "A pretty mess 
 he '11 make of some things that are coming up in 
 the federal court here." 
 
 "I believe I am as much interested as any one 
 in the things that are coming up in this court," 
 said Gardwell, looking around the room. No one 
 disputed the assertion, and he continued: "I have 
 picked him out because, first of all, he is a strong 
 man; in the second place, because he is a good 
 lawyer ; but the main point in his favor is that he 
 
140 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 is fearless, and will dare to do, under any circum- 
 stances, what he thinks is right. I am a great 
 believer in what may be called the hypnotic force 
 of environment. To be plain: Judge Dunn in 
 Bowerville will not be the same man as Judge 
 Dunn in Malton, after a residence here of several 
 months. What we want is a man who doesn't 
 care a snap for precedent, but who will follow the 
 dictates of his conscience, and do what he thinks 
 is right. I can pledge you, gentlemen, that that 
 is the kind of a man Judge Dunn is. Let him 
 once make up his mind, and no power on earth 
 can swerve him. That is the kind of a man I 
 want to tie to, and I think I have found him in 
 the person of Judge Tracy Dunn." 
 
 "Will you file an indemnity bond for your 
 judge?" asked one of the gentlemen, laughing. 
 
 "I will pay my share of the losses, I '11 guar- 
 antee you that," he said, in reply. "But I simply 
 give you my judgment in the matter. If any of 
 you have other names to submit, I shall be pleased 
 to hear them, and we will discuss them." 
 
 There were men in the conference who had the 
 utmost faith in Gard well's judgment, and they 
 came to his support, with the ultimate result that 
 it was practically decided, then and there, that 
 Judge Dunn was to be the successor of Judge 
 Frezett on the federal bench. 
 
 But it required all of Gard well's generalship 
 and wonderful knowledge of men and character to 
 carry his candidate through. Cartwright, a lead- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 141 
 
 ing lawyer, had secured a strong political support 
 and was being pushed by some corporations which 
 had not been taken into the councils of Gardwell 
 and his associates. On the other hand, such had 
 been the corporation connections of this lawyer 
 that none of them dared to oppose him openly. 
 But Gardwell had many a string to pull and many 
 a button to touch. He placed himself in commu- 
 nication with his Eastern allies, and before three 
 days had elapsed he had received positive assur- 
 ance that as soon as he gave the word, Judge 
 Dunn would be named to fill the vacancy. In the 
 meantime documentary evidence bearing this out 
 was on its way to him. 
 
 About this time the daily papers began to hint 
 mysteriously of a "dark horse" that was coming 
 to the front in the race for the vacant judgeship. 
 To the reporters, Gardwell laughed at the rumors 
 of a dark horse, and stoutly insisted that Cart- 
 wright would be named, which speedily bore fruit 
 in the announcement that Elliot Gardwell was sup- 
 porting a corporation lawyer, a statement which 
 he did not take the pains to deny. 
 
 The clock in Judge Dunn's butterfly study had 
 just struck nine, and the judge was thinking of 
 taking his lamp and going to bed, when he heard 
 a knock at the front door. He picked up the 
 lamp, and went down. As he opened the door, a 
 man standing on the porch stepped in, and said : 
 
 "Good-evening, judge. My name is Tusher, 
 John Tusher, chairman of the State Central Com- 
 mittee. Judge, do you remember me?" 
 
142 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 " Why, certainly I do," replied the judge ; u walk 
 in. What brings you here at this time of night?" 
 
 "Important business," said Mr. Tusher pom- 
 pously; "and I think when you hear the nature of 
 my errand you will pardon me for calling at this 
 late hour." 
 
 The two men went up to the butterfly study; 
 and when Mr. Tusher had settled himself in a 
 chair and recovered his breath, for he was slightly 
 winded by reason of his haste, he fell at once to 
 business. 
 
 "Judge Dunn, I come to offer you the place on 
 the federal bench made vacant by the death of 
 the late -lamented Judge Frezett." 
 
 The judge looked searchingly at Mr. Tusher, 
 and resolved to himself that if the chairman of the 
 State Central Committee showed any further signs 
 of insanity, he would throw himself upon him, 
 overpower him, and call for Rufus to bring a rope, 
 in order that he might be bound and placed in safe 
 quarters. 
 
 "We cannot take No for an answer," continued 
 Mr. Tusher impressively, "and I expect to be 
 back in Malton by to-morrow morning, authorized 
 to accept the place in your behalf." 
 
 The judge decided that perhaps it would be the 
 better course to humor the unfortunate Mr. Tusher 
 in his hallucinations. 
 
 "And who was it that sent you to me, with the 
 offer of this position?" quietly asked the judge. 
 
 "The people of our great commonwealth, repre- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 143 
 
 sented by the grand old party to which we belong, 
 have sent me," declaimed Tusher, as if he were 
 addressing a state convention. "From the State 
 and from the nation I come." 
 
 "It is a very high judicial position, and one that 
 I do not feel competent to fill," said the judge, to 
 gain time. " This Tusher always was a little 
 queer," he thought. 
 
 "Tut, tut! Judge Frezett was no lawyer at 
 all." 
 
 The judge thought that he saw signs of return- 
 ing sanity in this observation. But the illusion 
 was speedily dispelled when Tusher again spoke. 
 
 "The matter has been worked very quietly, for 
 fear the corporation influences in the party might 
 discover the move. The fact is, they are bending 
 every energy to get Cartwright in, and his corpora- 
 tion affiliations are so pronounced that the party 
 cannot afford to let him get there. Do you fol- 
 low me?" 
 
 "Closely," said the judge. 
 
 "Well," ejaculated Tusher, pausing for breath 
 again, " what is your answer ?" 
 
 "This is rather sudden. I cannot say that I 
 would refuse such a place if it was offered me, 
 but I cannot consent to become a candidate, and 
 under the circumstances " 
 
 "Enough!" interrupted Tusher, rising, and 
 buttoning up his light overcoat, and reaching for 
 his hat. "The matter is settled; I understand 
 you perfectly. Allow me to be the first to extend 
 
144 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 my congratulations," and grasping the judge's 
 hand with both his own, he shook it warmly. He 
 started to the door, saying : 
 
 "Never mind coming down with the light. 
 Don't say a word to any one about my visit. I 
 have a rig outside, and will drive to the junction 
 and catch the midnight train for the city. Good- 
 night, judge." 
 
 "Well, I declare!" gasped the judge, sinking 
 into a chair, and gazing blankly around at his be- 
 loved butterflies. "Am I dreaming? No; that 
 was Tusher. Poor fellow ; the campaign has been 
 too much for him. But I ought to have kept him. 
 He '11 do himself some harm, or make the party 
 ridiculous." 
 
 He bolted downstairs and opened the front door, 
 only to hear the rumble of wheels rapidly growing 
 fainter, which told him that the chairman of the 
 State Central Committee had escaped, and was 
 still at large. He went upstairs to bed, and was 
 soon sound asleep. 
 
 When Tusher arrived in Malton at two o'clock 
 in the morning, he found Elliot Gardwell waiting 
 for him. 
 
 "What is his decision? " asked Gardwell. 
 
 "He accepts," answered Tusher. "He objected 
 at first, but I swung him around. He will accept. 
 I have his word." 
 
 "Good," exclaimed Gardwell. "His word is as 
 good as the bonds of most men nowadays." 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 BEGINNING many centuries back, it was a favor- 
 ite theme among the weavers of tales and makers 
 of fables to describe how some poor simple shep- 
 herd or swineherd was snatched up by genie hands 
 and dropped amid the golden splendor of a king's 
 court. In these stories, told o'er and o'er for 
 centuries, the lucky mortal or the victim of mis- 
 fortune, as the romancer saw fit to make him, had 
 nothing to say in the matter, but was as a feather 
 blown by the winds of fate. But fact, while often 
 serving as the handmaid of fiction, has also the 
 faculty of playing the part of magician and turn- 
 ing fiction into fact. 
 
 And thus it happened, in the final years of the 
 nineteenth century, that there came a parallel in 
 fact to the fiction of antiquity. Gardwell was the 
 genie. It was his hand, unseen, and as powerful 
 as that of the shadowy shape which obeyed the 
 behest of Aladdin, that plucked the plodding coun- 
 try judge from his quiet home, and dropped him 
 into a new world, at a time of life when he had 
 formed all the habits of the old one in which he 
 had lived for more than half a century. And 
 never did the vivid imagination of an Arabian 
 story-teller conceive a fable in which the mortal 
 
146 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 was more helpless, or less able to direct the course 
 of events which governed him, than was Judge 
 Tracy Dunn. 
 
 When once his plans were working, Gardwell 
 was not the man to rest until they were consum- 
 mated. Tusher's assurance that Judge Dunn would 
 accept the place was all he wanted, and it was only 
 a few days before it was settled ; for the red tape 
 of government procedure runs smoothly enough 
 when reeled off by the combined forces of political 
 and corporation influence. 
 
 "Here," said the telegraph editor, walking up 
 to the city editor's desk, and handing him a dis- 
 patch, "here is a wire from Washington that 
 will put a crimp in Gardwell. You had better 
 send a man over to see him. He 's too foxy to 
 say much, but he may talk a little." 
 
 "Judge Dunn, of Bowerville!" exclaimed the 
 city editor. "I know him. He 's a gruff old fel- 
 low, and he has n't got any more use for corpora- 
 tions than I have for bad copy. He '11 shake 
 things up when he steps into Frezett's shoes." 
 
 "Have you heard the news from Washington?" 
 inquired a reporter for the "Evening Daybook," 
 bustling into Gard well's office ten minutes later. 
 "Frezett's successor has been named." 
 
 "Is that so?" exclaimed Gardwell. "Who is 
 the lucky man? " 
 
 "Judge Tracy Dunn, of Bowerville." 
 
 "Judge Dunn? Oh, yes; I place him now. 
 He 's been on the circuit bench out there for a 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 147 
 
 good many years. He 's an able lawyer, and has 
 a high reputation among the people. He 's very 
 popular in his district." 
 
 "The people in his district haven't much use 
 for corporations," observed the reporter; "they 
 have just sent a Populist to Congress." 
 
 Gardwell laughed pleasantly, but made no reply. 
 
 "Something of a surprise? " continued the news- 
 paper man. 
 
 "Rather," said Gardwell, again laughing softly. 
 
 "What do you want to say about it?" asked 
 the reporter, changing his tone. 
 
 "Why, nothing that I know of. What can I 
 say?" 
 
 "Well, I have got to get something from you. 
 I was assigned to interview you." 
 
 "All right," replied Gardwell. "It won't be 
 long. Put me down as saying that while the ap- 
 pointment is in the nature of a surprise to me, it 
 is one that cannot fail to give general satisfaction. 
 Judge Dunn is an able lawyer and a man who has 
 shown on the bench that he has the courage of his 
 convictions. It is an appointment which in itself 
 shows that it was not dictated by political or any 
 other outside influence. The President has simply 
 found a man eminently fitted for the place and put 
 him in it. That's enough, isn't it? You are a 
 pretty good judge of such things." 
 
 "That's all right," replied the reporter, laugh- 
 ing. "I know you are tickled to death," and he 
 winked familiarly to the great man. 
 
148 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Have a cigar," said Gardwell, again chuc- 
 kling; "you boys bother the life out of me." 
 
 Seated in his office about an hour later, Gard- 
 well had the pleasure of reading the announcement 
 of Judge Dunn's appointment, coupled with the 
 additional information that the judge had been 
 bitterly opposed by Elliot Gardwell, the great 
 corporation man, and that he and his associates 
 were decidedly downcast over the outcome, and 
 fearful for the future. The interview was straight 
 enough; but tacked on to it was a semi-editorial 
 paragraph bringing out these phases of the situa- 
 tion and carrying the idea that corporations in 
 general, and those represented by Gardwell in 
 particular, had received a severe and well-deserved 
 set-back. This was followed, he next day, by 
 more comment in the editorial columns of leading 
 journals, so that the great American public learned, 
 and knew beyond a doubt, that corporation influ- 
 ences had cut no figure in the appointment of 
 Judge Tracy Dunn. And a certain "Vox Pop- 
 uli," a frequent contributor to the daily press, 
 wrote a lengthy communication exulting over the 
 waning power of greedy corporations. 
 
 "As crazy as Rufus Pease the day the judge 
 got the appointment " is a stock phrase in Bower- 
 ville, and bids fair to last until the present genera- 
 tion becomes extinct. 
 
 It had been Rufus ? s custom for years to be at 
 the train which brought the city dailies to Bower- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 149 
 
 ville, and, securing a newspaper for Judge Dunn, 
 to scan the headlines as he sauntered homeward. 
 During the campaign, however, and for some days 
 following the election, he had taken the slower 
 method adopted by the villagers generally, of going 
 to the post-office, and there waiting for the papers 
 to arrive. The symposium of political gossip in- 
 dulged in at this centre had a charm to which 
 Eufus, with his garrulous propensities, had easily 
 yielded. But the gossip was becoming hackneyed, 
 even to him, and on this particular morning he 
 absented himself from the symposium and went to 
 the train. Two blocks from the station, he seated 
 himself on Josiah Peacock's horse - block and 
 opened the paper. The first glance startled him. 
 He looked again, and his mouth opened. Then 
 he rubbed his hand across his eyes and took an- 
 other look. That was enough. Yelling like a 
 Comanche Indian, and waving the paper over his 
 head, Rufus started up the street. 
 
 "Whoop! Whoop!" he shouted, executing a 
 pigeon wing in the air with every yell as he ran. 
 "Whoop! Whoop! Picked out by the President, 
 byhokey!" 
 
 In his mad career he encountered several ac- 
 quaintances, some of whom tried to intercept him. 
 
 " Get out of the way ! " he shouted. " Don't try 
 to stop me now! Can't stop to tell you, but 
 you '11 all hear about it soon enough." 
 
 He bounded through the front doorway just as 
 Harriet opened the door, for she had seen him 
 coming, and was somewhat alarmed. 
 
150 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Look at that, Miss Harriet," he gasped. 
 "Look at that! just look at it! " at the same time 
 thrusting the paper into her hands. 
 
 Harriet looked, and read in staring headlines: 
 "Judge Dunn chosen! Named by the President 
 to succeed Judge Frezett on the Federal Bench ! 
 A Great Surprise and Rebuff for the Politicians." 
 
 "Oh, papa, papa," she cried, starting to run 
 upstairs. "Oh, papa, you have been appointed a 
 federal judge by the President." 
 
 "Nonsense, my child," said the judge coolly. 
 "You mean my name has been mentioned. I have 
 been afraid of that for several days." 
 
 "No," cried Harriet, "you 've been appointed." 
 
 "Tut, tut, my dear; young women know very 
 little about politics. You may bring the paper up 
 to me." 
 
 "You have been appointed, jedge," put in Ru- 
 fus in a wheezy voice. "I read it myself on the 
 way here, and I run all the way from the depot." 
 
 The judge smiled, and, reaching over the ban- 
 ister, took the paper from Harriet's hands. He 
 went back into the butterfly room and closed the 
 door. 
 
 "I guess poor Tusher is crazy, after all," mut- 
 tered the judge, taking a seat. "He has brought 
 me out as a candidate, and I will have no end of 
 bother." He opened the paper as he spoke, and 
 glanced at the headlines. 
 
 It took a good deal to startle Judge Dunn, but 
 when he read those headlines, a thrill ran through 
 him. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 151 
 
 "Appointed!" he murmured. "Appointed! 
 What does this mean? " His chin dropped to his 
 breast, and the paper fell from his hands. How 
 could it be possible, he thought, that he, the coun- 
 try judge, who had not made the slightest move in 
 his own behalf (nor had any one else, so far as he 
 knew), how could it be possible that he had been 
 named to a place on the federal bench? How 
 could he reconcile this with the fact, and he be- 
 lieved it to be a fact, that these appointments were 
 usually dictated by political influences or the money 
 power? And yet how well he knew that such was 
 not the case in this instance. Would the public 
 believe otherwise? Was he dreaming? Was he 
 losing his mind? He roused himself, and picking 
 up the paper read the account from beginning to 
 end. 
 
 It started off with the plain announcement that 
 Judge Tracy Dunn, of Bowerville (it certainly could 
 mean no one but him), had been appointed a judge 
 of the federal court, to succeed Judge Frezett. 
 It was stated in unmistakable terms that the ap- 
 pointment was not dictated in any way by politi- 
 cians; and so far from being influenced by corpo- 
 rations, it was, on the other hand, asserted that the 
 power of several of the largest, including those with 
 which Elliot Gardwell was associated, had been 
 used in strongly urging the claims of Cartwright. 
 
 His fearless attitude as judge of the circuit court 
 of Stallworth County was dilated upon, and it was 
 pointed out that he had always been known as a 
 
152 < THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 strong anti-corporation man. Then followed an 
 interview with Chairman Tusher, in which that 
 worthy declared that he alone in all the State had 
 known for several weeks that Judge Dunn would 
 be named. 
 
 "In fact," said Chairman Tusher in the inter- 
 view, "I myself was commissioned to visit Judge 
 Dunn and ascertain from him if he would accept 
 the appointment. He was much disinclined, at 
 first, to leave his quiet country home, where he is 
 revered and respected by every one; but upon my 
 finally explaining to him that I came almost di- 
 rectly from the President, and that the public wel- 
 fare demanded that he accept the position, he re- 
 luctantly agreed to do so in the event of his being 
 named. But so high an idea had he of the sacred- 
 ness of the trust that he declared that in case his 
 name was even mentioned as a candidate, he would 
 at once announce that he would not accept the 
 appointment. Under these circumstances, and 
 without one particle of wire-pulling or lobbying in 
 his behalf, he was selected by the President to fill 
 the vacancy. And the hardest part of it all," said 
 Chairman Tusher, "was getting Judge Dunn to 
 accept the place if it was even tendered him. I 
 flatter myself that I deserve no small credit in 
 securing such an ornament to the bench." 
 
 The article concluded by announcing that the 
 judge would take the oath of office in two weeks 
 from that date, and that he would at once remove 
 to the city with his family. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE , 153 
 
 "Well! " exclaimed the judge, tossing the paper 
 aside, "I don't seem to have very much to say in 
 this matter sa far as I can make out. A judge of 
 the federal bench!" He jumped up and threw 
 back his massive shoulders, while a light came 
 into his eyes. " God knows I have tried to do my 
 duty, and perhaps, after all, it pays even in these 
 days." 
 
 Just at this instant Mrs. Dunn slipped into the 
 room. 
 
 "Why, Tracy, what is all this about?" she 
 asked. 
 
 The old judge turned quickly, and, drawing the 
 little woman to his breast, whispered, as he threw 
 his arm around her and kissed her : 
 
 "It means, my dear, that I have come to my 
 reward." 
 
 The next two weeks passed very rapidly to 
 Judge Dunn and the family, including Rufus and 
 Betsy. The more he got into it, the more the 
 judge felt convinced that he had achieved the am- 
 bition of his life. Mrs. Dunn was quiet, and had 
 very little to say. Harriet was enthusiastic over 
 the prospect of moving to the city and at the same 
 time seeing her father become one of the leading 
 jurists. After several family councils, it was 
 finally decided that for the present Harriet and 
 Mrs. Dunn should remain in the old home with 
 Rufus and Betsy, but that later on, after the 
 judge had made proper arrangements, they should 
 all remove to the city. Betsy took this as & mat- 
 
154 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 ter of course; but Rufus threw up his hat and 
 shouted, evidently having had some misgivings as 
 to what was to become of him under ihe new order 
 of things. 
 
 The installation of Judge Dunn into office was 
 characterized by Jeffersonian simplicity in all its 
 details. The clerk of the court, a veteran in the 
 service, and the judge had made all arrangements 
 by letter. He arrived in the city on the morning 
 of the day in which he was to assume his new 
 duties. He wore a slouch hat, his old frock coat, 
 trousers which were much larger in cut of the legs 
 than was the prevailing city style, and stout, thick- 
 soled boots. He carried an umbrella which Har- 
 riet, by much rolling, had reduced to a reasonable 
 size. 
 
 He knew the way to the federal building very 
 well; and ignoring the swarms of hackmen, and 
 not deigning even to board a street car, he trudged 
 unattended over to the building which was to be 
 his official home. He climbed up two flights of 
 stairs and walked into the clerk's office, as cool 
 and calm as when he had stepped from the train. 
 
 "Good-morning, your honor," said Grimsted, 
 the old clerk, glancing up from his huge record, 
 and then looking down again to finish the making 
 of an entry. "I '11 be ready in just a moment." 
 
 A few lawyers who knew the judge stepped up 
 and shook him by the hand, and introduced others. 
 Several reporters introduced themselves. 
 
 "What are your plans, judge?" asked one of 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 155 
 
 the latter, a very young reporter, elbowing himself 
 forward and producing a block of paper. "Have 
 you secured a house yet, and when is your family 
 coming in? " 
 
 "Those arrangements were all made on the 
 day that I was appointed," answered the judge, 
 laughing pleasantly. "I read about them in the 
 ' Morning Watchman. ' ' 
 
 "Oh, you can't believe anything you see in the 
 'Watchman,'" said the young reporter. "I'm 
 with the ' Daybook. ' What we want is the news. 
 How old is your daughter, judge?" 
 
 Luckily for the judge, else he would have sus- 
 tained the reputation for gruffness which had pre- 
 ceded him, the clerk just then finished his entry, 
 and turning to him said: "Judge, I am ready now, 
 if you are. I am at your service." 
 
 "Very well," replied the judge, "let us pro- 
 ceed." * 
 
 The oath of office was administered, and the 
 judge, being duly sworn, ascended to the bench, 
 and the court was called to order. 
 
 Several lawyers stepped briskly forward, mo- 
 tions were made, and the newly installed judge, as 
 his predecessors had done on the first day, looked 
 wise over matters of which he really knew nothing, 
 took under advisement all possible cases, and in 
 others listened to the whispered suggestions of his 
 veteran assistant, the clerk. 
 
 It was all over in a few minutes, and very little 
 fuss and frill there was to it. When the business 
 
156 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 had been disposed of, the judge retired to cham- 
 bers, where he had a long talk with the clerk. 
 
 Sharp at the noon hour the judge arose and 
 remarked, " I '11 go to dinner now ; I will be back 
 in an hour." 
 
 "It has been the custom here," observed the 
 clerk, " for the judge to take two hours for 
 luncheon." 
 
 "One hour is enough for any man," replied the 
 judge decisively. "I will be back at one o'clock. 
 I shall be at the Hurley House in case anything 
 should come up demanding my attention." 
 
 Grimsted hesitated a moment, and then spoke : 
 "I beg your pardon, judge, but if I might make 
 a suggestion, I would advise you to go to the Vista 
 to-day. It is the leading hotel, you know, and 
 the Hurley is only second-class." 
 
 "Well, then, I've been second-class ever since 
 I have been coming to this city, and that is nearly 
 twenty years," said the judge. "I guess I can 
 stand it now; " and he .walked out. 
 
 It was an accident, of course, but when Judge 
 Dunn stepped out on to the street, he was met by 
 EUiot GardweU. 
 
 "Ah, judge, allow me to congratulate you," 
 cried Gardwell, extending his hand and clasping 
 that of the judge. "I intended writing you a few 
 lines, but I have been in the East ever since your 
 appointment was announced." 
 
 The judge was pleased to meet Gardwell, and 
 he showed it by the smile on his face. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 157 
 
 "I am glad to see you, Mr. Gardwell," he said. 
 "It seems almost like meeting an old Bowerville 
 friend; and to tell the truth, I felt rather lone- 
 some and out of place this morning. By the way, 
 I want to thank you for that Sphinx ligustri which 
 you sent me. It was a magnificent specimen." 
 
 "Come," said Gardwell, "come to lunch with 
 me, and we will talk butterflies. Just what I 've 
 been wanting to do for I don't know how long. 
 It takes my mind from business." 
 
 The judge hesitated, for the thought flashed 
 into his mind, What would the people think to see 
 him hobnobbing with this great corporation man 
 on his first day in the city ? What if his old Bow- 
 erville friends should hear of it, or, worst of all, 
 Congressman -elect Emmersley ? How little did he 
 know how different are the glasses through which 
 country folks and city people see things. 
 
 "We'll take a light lunch," said GardweU, 
 "for I have n't much time to-day. I must be back 
 at my office at one o'clock." 
 
 Gardwell was too shrewd to usher his friend into 
 the club on the first day of his arrival, so he piloted 
 him into the Vista. 
 
 "By the way," he asked, "where are you stop- 
 ping?" 
 
 "No place in particular," replied the judge, 
 "I did think of going to the Hurley until I bring 
 the folks in." 
 
 "Oh, that won't do at all," replied Gardwell. 
 "You want to stop at the Vista. It 's the only 
 
158 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 place in town. You want to get acquainted here in 
 your new home, and the Vista is the place to do it." 
 
 "Are n't the rates rather high? " asked the judge 
 doubtfully. "You know I am a poor man and an 
 old-fashioned one at that. I don't go very much 
 on style." 
 
 "It's the cheapest place in the city when all 
 things are considered; besides, there will be no 
 trouble about your getting special rates. Ah, how 
 do you do, Colonel Babcock ? Allow me to intro- 
 duce you to Judge Dunn. The judge has just been 
 appointed to the federal bench here." 
 
 "Very happy to meet you, indeed, judge," said 
 Colonel Babcock, eying him sharply, for he had 
 been present at the council wherein it was decided 
 to place the judge on the federal bench. 
 
 "Will you come with us, colonel?" asked 
 Gardwell. "We are going up for luncheon." 
 
 "Thanks; I don't mind if I do," said the colonel. 
 
 The judge was somewhat surprised at the extent 
 of the luncheon, and he wondered what a dinner 
 would be in that hotel. Gardwell and the judge 
 very quickly fell into a conversation over their 
 fishing trip together at Hemlock Lake. 
 
 "You remember that magnificent muscallonge 
 we had at the club a year or so ago, don't you, 
 colonel? Well, that was my first one, and I 
 caught it under the guidance of Judge Dunn." 
 
 "Why, I didn't know that you and the judge 
 had ever met before," remarked the colonel, scor- 
 ing a bull's-eye. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 159 
 
 "Oh, yes," replied Gardwell. "The judge and 
 I are cranks on the same topic. We are butterfly 
 fiends." 
 
 "I knew you were one," said the colonel suavely, 
 u but I had no idea there was another one in the 
 country." 
 
 "Yes, indeed," cried the judge; "there is an- 
 other one, and I had no idea that I had a fellow 
 worker in my diversion until I accidentally found 
 one in Mr. Gardwell." 
 
 This led to a discussion of butterflies, and dur- 
 ing the luncheon the judge and Gardwell talked 
 of nothing else. Several times the judge apolo- 
 gized to the colonel and attempted to direct the 
 talk into other channels, but Gardwell invariably 
 brought him back to butterflies, which, to tell the 
 truth, he was not at all loath to continue. When 
 they went down into the lobby, Gardwell excused 
 himself, and, coming back a few minutes later, said 
 to the judge : 
 
 "You have been assigned a room here, and I 
 am sure you will find everything satisfactory. It 
 is really the only place for you to stop." 
 
 "By all means," put in the colonel. "You want 
 to stop here and no place else." 
 
 "Very well. When Mr. Gardwell was out on 
 the fishing trip with me he trusted to my judg- 
 ment, and under the circumstances I '11 let him 
 pass judgment on hotels for me. I '11 confess I 
 don't know much about them." Glancing up at 
 the clock as he spoke, and noticing that it was ten 
 
160 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 minutes past one, he gave a little start. " Gentle- 
 men," he said, "you will have to excuse me; I 
 promised to be back at one o'clock. I must be 
 moving right along now; I had no idea it was so 
 late." 
 
 It annoyed the judge to know that he had failed 
 to be punctual; and walking back to the federal 
 building, he kept up such a brisk gait that the 
 two gentlemen had hard work to keep pace with 
 him. They parted at the corner, and Gardwell 
 said, as they bade him good-day : - 
 
 "I shall be very happy, judge, to render you 
 any service within my power. If you want my 
 % help, just call on me. Or, better than that, I will 
 volunteer if I notice anything." 
 
 "Thank you, thank you, Mr. Gardwell; your 
 kindness is appreciated." 
 
 "Now," said Gardwell, slipping his arm into 
 that of the colonel, "what do you suppose I have 
 got to do right off ? " 
 
 "I haven't the least idea, Elliot," answered the 
 colonel. 
 
 " I have got to send four glass cases filled with 
 butterflies up to my apartments, and fix up what 
 is called a ' butterfly study. ' ' 
 
 "Gardwell," said the colonel, surveying his 
 companion with undisguised admiration, "you are 
 a wonder. You made no mistake when you picked 
 out that country judge to come in here. I didn't 
 know what it was, but I had faith enough in you 
 to support you in your stand, because I knew that 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 161 
 
 there must be something back of it. But who in 
 thunder would have thought it was butterflies!" 
 and he laughed heartily. 
 
 "You like to tell a good story, my old friend," 
 said Gardwell, "but don't let your fondness for 
 that lead you into making ' butterflies ' the basis 
 for a joke at the club. It's a serious business; 
 and if you value your own interests, be careful 
 how you touch on that subject. It is like a deli- 
 cate strand of wire that oftentimes furnishes the 
 connection which drives the most powerful machin- 
 ery. Do you follow me? " 
 
 "Clearly," answered the colonel. "But a but- 
 terfly is indeed a fragile thing on which to load the 
 destiny of fifty millions of dollars." 
 
 "True enough," replied Gardwell; "but if there 
 be anything in the theory of evolution, we had the 
 butterfly before we had the elephant. The simile 
 is not a particularly good one, but if we had not 
 had the butterfly we would not have the elephant. 
 Do you see the point? " 
 
 "It was a long jump from the butterfly to the 
 elephant," observed the colonel dubiously. "And 
 you must remember, Gardwell, that you haven't 
 very much time. We have got to be moving inside 
 of a year. You know that." 
 
 "This is an age of progress," said Gardwell, 
 drawing his face until the ridge appeared on his 
 forehead. "We know more about science and 
 what-not, and we know more about men. Half 
 the kings who have been tumbled from their 
 
162 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 thrones, or who fell by assassin hands, would have 
 ruled in peace and triumphed over their enemies 
 if they had studied human nature more and the 
 art of warfare less." 
 
 "You mean, in plain English, Elliot, that there 
 are more ways than one to skin a cat." 
 
 "Several ways," said Gardwell grimly. 
 
 "Which means that there is no way that you 
 don't know. Well, good-by, Gardwell," for the 
 two men had been standing in front of the offices 
 of the Trans-American Railroad. "I must be hur- 
 rying over; I have an appointment at 2.30." 
 
 "Kings," mused the colonel. "He spoke of 
 kings. He is the king and the knave rolled into 
 one. But in some games the queen takes the king, 
 and the knave, too, and I am probably the only 
 man who knows the one weak point in his game. 
 He is a stanch friend in fair and foul weather 
 if you are in the same boat with him, but Lord 
 help you if there is room for only one in the boat." 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE Yorkshire lad in London town, the Breton 
 peasant 'mid the gayeties of Paris, or the Green 
 Mountain boy on Broadway for the first time, 
 never felt more of a thrill than did Judge Dunn 
 during the first few weeks of his new life. Under 
 other circumstances a man of his age coming to 
 the city would not so readily have adjusted himself 
 to the new conditions ; but the way was paved for 
 him, and Gardwell was the smoothest and most 
 industrious of pavers. He seemed to have the 
 faculty of turning up at the most unexpected mo- 
 ments, in the most unexpected places, and at just 
 the time Judge Dunn was really in need of some 
 help. It was Gardwell who took him to the club 
 and introduced him to the leading business and 
 professional men of the city. It was Gardwell 
 who talked butterflies to him whenever he felt 
 lonesome. It was Gardwell who looked up a 
 house, secured it all furnished at a remarkably 
 low rate of rental, and it was Gardwell who in a 
 hundred and one little ways performed services 
 which no one else thought of and without which 
 the judge would have been put to considerable 
 trouble and expense. At first the judge had been 
 inclined to hold a trifle aloof from his friend; but 
 
164 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 he very soon discovered that Gardwell was held in 
 the highest esteem by all those with whom he came 
 in contact, no matter what their station in life. 
 The editors of the great papers which thundered 
 in their editorial columns against corporations, and 
 sometimes directly at Gardwell, spoke of him in 
 the highest terms, and greeted him on all occa- 
 sions with the utmost affability. A fashionable 
 minister who made a specialty of pleading the 
 cause of the toiling masses in glittering generali- 
 ties was never so happy as when basking in the 
 sunshine of Gardwell's smile, and the judge had 
 seen him run half a block to overtake him. 
 
 It was now three weeks since he had come to 
 the city, and he had devoted much of this time to 
 familiarizing himself with his duties. He had an 
 ambition to achieve distinction in his new field of 
 work; and as he had always been a close law stu- 
 dent, extending his reading far beyond what was 
 essential to his duties as circuit judge, he had 
 little difficulty in mastering the general run of the 
 work. But above all, he desired to rise above 
 and be beyond the influences which he felt had in 
 many cases governed the actions of his predecessor. 
 His appointment had come unsolicited on his part, 
 and, as he construed it, was a direct reward for 
 his fearlessness and independence as a judge of 
 the circuit court. To be sure, he found many 
 things different from what he had anticipated, and 
 he had been compelled to adjust himself to circum- 
 stances in many ways. He had intended taking 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 165 
 
 modest quarters until he could secure a house, and 
 had pictured such a house as being in the outskirts 
 of the city, within easy walking distance from a 
 street-car line. It was also his resolution to avoid 
 the associations which, in the case of Judge Frezett 
 and other federal judges, had frequently given 
 rise to criticism. But he soon discovered that the 
 office of federal judge carried with it, by an un- 
 written but none the less iron-clad decree, a social 
 standing much higher than he had dreamed of, 
 and he was impressed with the fact that the up- 
 holding of this social standing was counted as one 
 of the duties of the position and just as important 
 a duty as were those of a purely legal character. 
 
 On several occasions he had relapsed into his 
 old free and easy country style, but the looks on 
 the faces of the lawyers and others in the court- 
 room very quickly told him that it was out of 
 place. The people he met treated him with the 
 greatest deference, and there was a stiffness and 
 ceremony about it all which was very galling to 
 a man of the judge's character and bringing up. 
 And yet there was something seductive about it, 
 and the judge found himself adopting a general 
 bearing and manner of speech which, only a month 
 or so before, he would not have thought himself 
 capable of. We are all of us more or less suscep- 
 tible to the adulation of our fellow men, and the 
 judge was neither stronger nor weaker than the 
 great majority of mortals. Still, he made several 
 struggles against it, and really longed in his heart 
 
166 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 for the old-time simplicity which permitted him to 
 shake hands with the people that he liked, and to 
 slap them on the back if he chose to. To an old 
 friend who visited him, the judge of a circuit ad- 
 joining Stall worth County, he attempted to un- 
 bosom himself, but the result was not what he had 
 expected. 
 
 "I very much dislike all this tomfoolery and 
 wasteful extravagance," he had said, glancing 
 around, for they were at that time taking luncheon 
 at the hotel ; " but I was literally dragged up here 
 when I first arrived. I have about made up my 
 mind to move down to the Hurley." 
 
 "You must do nothing of the sort," said the 
 country judge. "This is the place for you, and 
 this is where you belong. I tell you the judiciary 
 has a standing which it must maintain, and you 
 have got to pay the penalty now. You will get 
 used to it quick enough." 
 
 "But I don't want to get used to it," replied 
 Judge Dunn; "that 's just the point." 
 
 "Nonsense," rejoined his old friend; "Uncle 
 Sam does n't pay his judges six thousand dollars 
 a year to enable them to save forty -five hundred. 
 When you are in Rome, do as the Romans do. 
 Take my advice, and don't try to establish any 
 precedents in this line." 
 
 "Perhaps you are right," said the judge, after 
 a moment's thought, "but I tell you, my old 
 friend, that I do not intend to follow all the pre- 
 cedents established by my predecessors." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 167 
 
 "No; and I don't think you will, either," re- 
 plied his old neighbor, looking at him admiringly. 
 "You have too strong a will, and your ideas are 
 too pronounced as regards corporations. You will 
 never be a Frezett, Dunn." 
 
 Left to himself, the judge's mind, after all, 
 would have followed the bent of his real inclina- 
 tions, but Elliot Gardwell was vigilant and had 
 no idea of allowing him to deviate from the course 
 which he had marked out. He had been at the 
 club several times in company with Gardwell, and 
 had met a number of very companionable and 
 pleasing gentlemen, several of whom interested 
 him greatly. In fact, he had enjoyed these visits 
 to the club more than anything else since he had 
 come to the city. Gardwell was a keen observer, 
 and, seeing the good impression that had been 
 made, followed it up. 
 
 "Judge," he said, one evening while they were 
 seated in the rotunda of the hotel, "you must let 
 me have your name sent into the club ; you must 
 join it by all means." 
 
 "I hardly think I belong there," replied the 
 judge. "Nearly all the members are rich, and I 
 am poor. I really cannot afford it, anyway." 
 
 "You make a mistake, dividing men into two 
 classes, the rich and the poor," replied Gardwell. 
 "Besides, we have members who are poor, some 
 of them poorer than the poor, inasmuch as they 
 owe fifty thousand dollars with no prospect of ever 
 being able to pay their indebtedness." 
 
168 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Owe fifty thousand dollars and belong to a 
 club like that!" said the judge. "How do they 
 manage it? " 
 
 "Oh," said Gardwell, "their wives have a few 
 dollars left. But seriously, to return to the sub- 
 ject, you must let me have your name sent in. 
 I '11 have Judge Jackman propose it. There is 
 not a judge in the county who is not a member, 
 and such a thing as the federal judge not belong- 
 ing to the club has never been thought of. So far 
 as the initiation fee and the dues are concerned, 
 you need not worry about that. Why, rather 
 than not have you as a member, you would be 
 placed on the honorary list. Several gentlemen 
 have already spoken to me about it, and asked why 
 your name had not been posted. As for your 
 affording it, I hardly think there is any danger of 
 your being led into any wild extravagances by club 
 life." 
 
 "No," said the judge, laughing. "And yet, 
 Mr. Gardwell, I cannot see why I should join the 
 club. The people I would meet there are not the 
 class of people that I have been used to associating 
 with"- 
 
 "No," interrupted Gardwell, "they are not. 
 But there is a class of people whom you will have 
 to associate with in your new capacity." 
 
 "I am beginning to find that out," replied the 
 judge, "and yet I cannot see why it should be so." 
 
 "The same rule obtains in every calling," was 
 Gardwell' s reply; "even in the church, the walks 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 169 
 
 of a bishop or a cardinal lie in different lines 
 from those of the pastor of a country parish." 
 
 "True enough," said the pdge. "But I'll 
 warrant you that the pastor of a country parish, 
 suddenly elevated to a bishopric, would have the 
 same feeling that I have at present." 
 
 "Yes, but the discipline of the church and a 
 regard for its traditions would soon make him sink 
 his personal feeling and bow to the inevitable. 
 After all, it is really a good thing, and it is simply 
 taking a worthy advantage of the frailty of human 
 nature. The public honors and respects that 
 which it envies and admires. If judges of the 
 supreme court sat in overalls and workingmen's 
 mitres on their heads, a country justice of the 
 peace in topcoat and linen choker would stand 
 higher in the public esteem. The dignity of the 
 bench and a duty which you owe to the public 
 demand that you become a member of the club," 
 said Gardwell in a half -joking, half -serious way. 
 
 "In that case," said the judge, "I will certainly 
 become a member, provided I am acceptable. But 
 I insist on paying the regular initiation fee and 
 the dues ; under those conditions you may attend 
 to the matter." 
 
 Several evenings later, when the judge went 
 over to the club with Gardwell, he noticed that 
 his name was posted, with Judge Jackman as 
 sponsor, a little piece of tact on the part of Gard- 
 well, for which the judge felt more grateful than 
 the occasion really demanded. 
 
170 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 The judge had been looking for a residence for 
 himself and family, but had met with very poor 
 success. He realized now that he had a social 
 standing to maintain, and that his first idea of 
 getting a modest house in some out-of-the-way 
 part of the city would never do. Accordingly, he 
 hunted for one so situated that it would come up 
 to these requirements and still be within his means, 
 for the judge had resolved to save a certain por- 
 tion of his salary each year. Just as he had about 
 given up in despair, Gardwell came to the rescue, 
 without anything having been said by the judge in 
 reference to the matter. As usual, Gardwell went 
 directly to the point. 
 
 "I think I have found just the house for you," 
 he said, "and I know you are wanting your wife 
 and daughter here." 
 
 "Why, yes," replied the judge, in surprise. "I 
 have been looking for a house, and, to tell you the 
 truth, I have not had much success in finding 
 what I wanted." 
 
 "Well," said Gardwell, "I have got just the 
 thing, and it would n't happen again in a lifetime. 
 Marringer is going to Europe with his wife ; his 
 health is poor, you know, and the doctor has told 
 him that he must remain abroad for at least a 
 year. He has a fine residence, and wishes to rent 
 it all furnished." The judge had seen the resi- 
 dence. 
 
 "Why, I couldn't take that house," he de- 
 clared; "that is entirely beyond my means." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 171 
 
 "I don't know about that," said Gardwell. "I 
 was talking with Marringer, and I think it could 
 be had for a very reasonable rental ; at any rate, 
 if you will allow me, I will see him, and ask 
 about it." 
 
 "Certainly," replied the judge; "I would be 
 thankful to have you do so." 
 
 So successful was Gardwell on this mission, by 
 reason of methods peculiar to himself, that when 
 he again saw the judge he was able to offer him 
 the house, completely furnished, at a remarkably 
 low figure. In fact, so cheap was the rental that 
 the judge, used even as he was to country rates, 
 was somewhat surprised, and expressed doubts 
 that were close to a suspicion of Gardwell in the 
 matter. But Gardwell was glib of tongue, and 
 explained with great detail how it came about that 
 Marringer was especially anxious to have him 
 occupy the place. 
 
 "It is not every man who can have his house 
 kept up by a federal judge," he said. "It is 
 better than burglar insurance, you know." 
 
 The judge went to see Marringer the next day, 
 and engaged the place for a year, with a possibil- 
 ity of having it two. Marringer showed him 
 through the house, and it almost took his breath 
 away to imagine himself and Mrs. Dunn, with 
 Harriet, Betsy, and Eufus, living in that palatial 
 mansion; but he shrugged his shoulders, and 
 thought to himself, as he trudged back to the 
 hotel : " Well, I am in for it, and as long as that 
 
172 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 is part of the business, I suppose I have got to 
 keep up with the procession. I will fix up one of 
 those rooms there for a butterfly study, though, 
 and the house is big enough so that I shall have 
 some quiet by myself." 
 
 At the end of the week, the judge went to Bow- 
 erville for the first time since he had come to the 
 city. He had written and received a letter every 
 other day during that period, Harriet doing the 
 writing for her mother. 
 
 The judge was now fairly launched on his new 
 life in the city, and Gardwell hurried away to the 
 East, whither he should have gone a week or so 
 before. Before he left, however, he had a short 
 talk with Colonel Babcock. 
 
 "You know, colonel, I make very few confi- 
 dants," he said, "and you are one of them, the 
 only one in this instance. I want you to pay a 
 little attention to Judge Dunn at the club. See 
 that he gets into the right company, and kind of 
 look after him a bit. You understand? And 
 above all, keep that fellow Polworth away from 
 him, if you can. He 's in the formative stage 
 now, and I don't want him to get an idea that we 
 are a den of anarchists over there. Anarchists 
 and corporation magnates come in the same cate- 
 gory in his mind, provided they are not very mild 
 types, such as I am." 
 
 "I understand you thoroughly, Elliot," said the 
 colonel, "and I give you my assurance that I will 
 attend to the matter to the best of my ability. 
 

 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 173 
 
 You may depend on me. But what am I to do 
 with Pol worth, in case he becomes rambunctious? 
 You expect me to pick him up and carry him out, 
 or something of that kind? " 
 
 "No, no," cried Gardwell; "just start a conver- 
 sation on architecture. He never built a house in 
 his life, but he knows more about architecture than 
 any man on the earth, beneath the earth, or in the 
 heavens above." 
 
 "How are things looking in the East, by the 
 way? Have you heard from Wilier since yester- 
 day?" asked the colonel. 
 
 "No," replied Gardwell, "but there will be no 
 trouble for some time to come. When the trouble 
 does come, they will find us ready for them, and 
 we will fight it out on our own battle-grounds, 
 you can depend on that; and in that same connec- 
 tion I want to depend a little on you now. 
 Hello!" he exclaimed, "it is only ten minutes to 
 train-time. I won't leave Chiopolis until Sunday 
 night, so you need not wire me in case anything 
 comes up until I reach New York." He shook 
 hands with the colonel, seized a small hand-bag, 
 and was soon scurrying towards the depot. When 
 he had returned from this trip, the great fight of 
 his life had begun. 
 
 The judge and his family were now come to the 
 city to stay, and were settled in their new Home. 
 Those who met them frequently, and who formed 
 the new circle in which they moved, say that they 
 
174 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 were a charming trio, the judge, with his star- 
 tling frankness, at times, and his queer ideas upon 
 matters which nobody discussed in upper circles, 
 matters which brought up pictures of frouzy men 
 and drabbled women (people who really interested 
 "society" only upon occasions when the men 
 burned freight cars, or stoned other men even 
 more frouzy); Harriet Dunn, a handsome young 
 woman of high spirits and with much animal life, 
 who, like her father, frequently caused a lifting of 
 Jin de siecle eyebrows by the expression of her 
 opinions in a way quite in contrast with the cus- 
 toms of a social world which was arched with a 
 silver sky and encircled with a golden horizon, 
 sky and horizon being proportioned with mathe- 
 matical accuracy at a ratio of sixteen to one; and 
 finally Mrs. Dunn (now always spoken of as Mrs. 
 Judge Tracy Dunn), a small, pale-faced woman, 
 so quiet and reserved that she was soon set down 
 as being the very essence of refinement, and who, 
 having unwillingly gained this reputation, was 
 made much of by all the large and fat women in 
 the set whose width of palm and girth of knuckles 
 told of past familiarity with labors more arduoiis 
 than wielding fans or holding lorgnettes. These 
 people scoff at the idea that the judge, his wife, 
 and his daughter were not all three supremely 
 happy, as they had good reason to be, viewed from 
 the generally accepted standpoint for such obser- 
 vations ; and many occasions are recalled on which 
 the judge was brilliant, Harriet delightfully viva- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 175 
 
 cious, and Mrs. Dunn as much a picture of quiet 
 contentment as a cat purring on a rug before a 
 glowing grate. 
 
 Robert Emmersley was now in Washington, 
 where he was attracting some favorable attention, 
 partly on account of his youth and ability, but 
 mainly by reason of having been given a place on 
 several rather important committees, for the domi- 
 nant party was not so secure in its majority that 
 it could afford to ignore the representatives of the 
 new party in the House. Besides, Emmersley had 
 shown no signs of being so virulent a Populist as 
 he had been represented. Harriet saw his name 
 in the papers quite frequently, and she wondered 
 if she would ever forget him, for, to tell the truth, 
 her first impressions were so strong and the recol- 
 lections of their past associations so pleasant that 
 her feelings had developed from what was friend- 
 ship, and comradeship just blossoming into love, 
 into a love which grew in proportion as the chances 
 for its being requited diminished. 
 
 There are some natures which yearn most for 
 the unattainable, and in which love thrives best 
 when fostered as a sorrow. Of such is the king- 
 dom of spinsters; and how often it happens that 
 those whom our grandmothers remember as bril- 
 liant belles in their day are the old maids of ours. 
 But Harriet Dunn was not pining for want of love 
 as yet. She was a vigorous American girl ; and 
 being possessed of a form and face far above the 
 average, in a set where the lines of careful breed- 
 
176 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 ing had had but few chances to show themselves, 
 she was the recipient of many little attentions such 
 as fail to afford pleasure to few young women who 
 exist outside of story-books written by members of 
 the tea-drinking element. 
 
 She had plunged, instead of waded, into the 
 social swim, and from the very first she was as 
 much at home in it as though it were her natural 
 element. There was one thing, however, which 
 she refused to do, and that was to adopt the baby 
 prattle which was much in vogue among the young 
 women of that period. The bright things which 
 she sometimes said were her own and not culled 
 from the witticisms found in the so-called society 
 journals, and she never asked supremely idiotic 
 questions, as a delicate suggestion that she was 
 not yet over three years of age in worldly wisdom. 
 To say that Harriet Dunn was universally popular 
 in her new world would not be true. Many of 
 the young women declared her to be "so queer," 
 and that she was "such a dull thing," opinions 
 which were readily coincided in by members of 
 the callow masculine brigade, whose part it is to 
 lend "life" to social functions, and who are often 
 enough carried home more dead than alive after 
 the last charge on the punch-bowl. 
 
 But "there are others," even in society. To 
 them she was a charming girl, and she was made 
 much of by many of the older gentlemen and some 
 of their wives, and among them at all times and 
 upon all occasions was Elliot Gardwell some- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 177 
 
 times in the background, sometimes the foremost, 
 but always there. And so firmly was the reputa- 
 tion of Gardwell established as that of a man des- 
 tined to be an old bachelor, for he had withstood 
 a bombardment of bright eyes for years without 
 showing a mark, that not even the most audacious 
 busybody and gossip in the set had the temerity to 
 regard him in any other light than that of a friend 
 of the family. So far as that reputation was con- 
 cerned in upper circles, it was firmly established; 
 and the judge, meeting hardly any one outside of 
 this set, where Elliot Gardwell was looked upon as 
 a paragon of human attainment, had grown to be 
 quite proud of the fact. How foolish he was, he 
 thought, to have imagined that all corporation men 
 were alike. Because a majority of them were grasp- 
 ing and cruel, waiting at every opportunity to take 
 advantage of the law and override the rights of 
 their fellow men, did it follow that they were all 
 that way? Elliot Gardwell was certainly not one of 
 these, thought the judge. He had had many op- 
 portunities to study him, had talked to him by the 
 hour, and had in every way sought to discover in 
 him those traits of character which he believed 
 were developed by corporation training. He had 
 sought by various little artifices, artifices so simple 
 that Gardwell smiled at them, to bring him out on 
 these points, and invariably he had found Gard- 
 well expressing sentiments which agreed closely 
 with his own. He had failed to find in Gard well's 
 character any trace of what he termed the corpora- 
 
178 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 tion taint, even in his apparently unguarded mo- 
 ments; for he did not know that Gardwell was 
 always on guard, and never more so than when 
 masked by good-natured carelessness in conversa- 
 tion. He returned the verdict that Elliot Gard- 
 well was a much maligned and misunderstood man. 
 Having once entered this verdict, he was not the 
 man to change it without the strongest proof to the 
 contrary. 
 
 While Gardwell was as soft spoken a man as 
 ever wrecked a railroad or scuttled a corporation 
 in a sea of watered stock, he always argued in his 
 quiet, subtle, and persuasive way that the end jus- 
 tified the means, and that cases oftentimes arose 
 where the greatest good to the greatest number de- 
 manded action which at the time might appear to 
 be contrary to both the letter of the law and 
 equity. He had cited such cases to the judge on 
 several occasions, and on looking them up the 
 judge had found that a number of them referred 
 to exigencies where receivers had been appointed, 
 even when the petitioners were unable to show 
 beyond a doubt that it was absolutely necessary. 
 He smiled to himself as he read, and thought how 
 impossible it would be for him to ever stretch the 
 law to keep a corporation from breaking. 
 
 Gard well's passion for butterflies had grown 
 amazingly, and was a source of no little self-con- 
 gratulation on the part of the judge. There was 
 seldom an evening in the week, when the judge 
 was at home, that Gardwell and he did not spend 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 179 
 
 from ten minutes to three hours' time in the but- 
 terfly study. And on occasions when Gard well's 
 stay was to be very brief, he always brought a fine 
 specimen; for in fixing up his butterfly room he 
 had taken the precaution to remove a hundred of 
 the finest specimens, which were destined, one by 
 one, to find their final abode in the judge's study, 
 and which that gentleman supposed were received 
 by Gardwell from various parts of the country. 
 In fact, Gardwell seldom failed to have an inter- 
 esting story in connection with the capture of these 
 prizes, many of which the judge repeated with 
 great gusto to friends who called, and who submit- 
 ted to the butterfly ordeal with much less grace 
 than that exhibited by Gardwell. 
 
 To sum it up, the judge and Gardwell had 
 grown to be stanch friends. And how could it 
 be otherwise? It is the tiny drops of water that 
 bore a hole through the stone without causing 
 shock or fracture to the stone, and it is the little 
 favors, following day after day, that gently tap 
 upon and unlatch the doors that lead to recognition 
 and gratitude and sense of obligation, until finally 
 the doer of these favors finds himself enthroned 
 high in the esteem of the one who has received 
 them. And thus sat Gardwell, upon a pinnacle 
 which he himself had reared with all the patience 
 of the insect which builds the coral reef. 
 
 Gardwell was a wonderful man,, not alone in the 
 power which he wielded over others, but in the 
 control of himself. He was an actor, if ever there 
 
180 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 was one; and while he gave individual perform- 
 ances to small audiences, the world was his 
 stage. There was many an evening when he 
 smiled and listened to the judge's rhapsodies on 
 butterflies that his nerves were on their keenest 
 edge, and there was a throbbing pain between his 
 eyes, eyes which perhaps had not been closed 
 for twenty -four hours, or even longer. The affairs 
 of the Trans-American Railroad were in a tangled 
 condition, and the tide of battle had set in against 
 the forces of which Gardwell was commander of 
 the Western wing. There had been reverses in 
 the East, and serious ones, which, had they been 
 promptly followed up, could not have resulted in 
 other than a Waterloo for Gardwell and his asso- 
 ciates. To conceal his weakness, and to prepare 
 for a final attack which should turn defeat into 
 victory, was now the aim of Gardwell' s life. 
 
 If Judge Dunn could have seen the face of this 
 man five minutes after parting with him on most 
 any evening, its haggardness would have shocked 
 him; or could he have looked into Gar d well's 
 apartments and watched him pacing back and 
 forth until far into the night, or could have heard 
 his muttered soliloquies, what he saw and what he 
 heard would have been a startling revelation to 
 him. Now standing with clenched fist and blazing 
 eye, he was the personification of deadly hatred 
 and pent-up fury, backed by an iron will. Yet 
 the next instant, the ridge would disappear from 
 his forehead, and a smile settle down over the 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 181 
 
 hard, cruel mouth and shape it into one full-lipped, 
 and curved by amorous thought. 
 
 "D n them all," he would hiss; "I'll crush 
 them yet ! What do I care for the cost, or who 
 suffers? I '11 crush them. It is my only hope." 
 
 Then a sudden start, a tremor, a transformation, 
 and sinking into a chair and burying his face in 
 his hands, he would groan: "My God! Why do 
 I love her so?" 
 
 For Elliot Gardwell, engaged as he was in a 
 gigantic struggle which called for every ounce of 
 energy, and made demands which were draining 
 his vitality, was at the same time in love with 
 Harriet Dunn. In the sacred sense of the term, 
 in love for the first time in his life. He knew it, 
 and he had struggled against it, with reason and 
 with argument, which always before had been con- 
 vincing ; but fight as he might within himself, his 
 love for this pure girl remained constantly, and 
 became a part of his life, a part of himself. 
 
 Was this the only door that this strange man 
 had left unlocked, or does Cupid always carry a 
 pass-key? No matter. Elliot Gardwell, strong 
 as he was in everything else, succumbed. Despite 
 the warnings and the danger signals which reason, 
 judgment, and experience gave him, he yielded, 
 and resolved to make Harriet Dunn his wife. 
 And having taken this resolve, he had no doubt of 
 its consummation, for he had never yet engaged 
 in an undertaking which he had not successfully 
 carried through. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 AMONG Judge Dunn's club acquaintances was 
 Van Tipple, the banker. He was a tall, thin man 
 with a long, beak -like nose which glowed out from 
 the bristles of an iron -gray mustache with an effect 
 suggesting a lighted asbestos-lined gas-grate. 
 
 "It always makes me nervous to look at Van 
 Tipple," said a thoughtful member of the club on 
 one occasion, "for I am continually expecting to 
 see his mustache burst into a flame. I wonder 
 that it don't catch fire." 
 
 "There is absolutely no danger," replied his 
 companion dryly. "His nose is an incandescent 
 light, worked from a storage battery, and you 
 must remember that Van Tipple's ground connec- 
 tions are never of the best." 
 
 Van Tipple did not belie his name after four 
 o'clock in the afternoon of any day, but the more 
 he tippled the more amiable he became; and meet- 
 ing the judge, as he usually did, at an early hour 
 in the evening, when he was in his brightest rain- 
 bow period, he took a strong fancy to him and 
 followed it up by constantly paying him attentions. 
 The judge had attempted to escape from his friend, 
 whom at first, to tell the truth, he did not like in 
 the least. But Van Tipple was so cheerfully per- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 183 
 
 sistent in his attentions, and so calmly impervious 
 ,to the hints and rebuffs which he received, that the 
 judge finally gave up in despair and submitted to 
 his courtesies as an unavoidable evil. In time, 
 however, he really grew to like him, and was 
 amused in studying the various ways in which the 
 banker sought to impress upon him the fact that 
 he was looked upon with favor by him. 
 
 Van Tipple was rich, and he pitied Judge 
 Dunn because he was poor. He had once been 
 very poor himself, and very miserable, and it was 
 his natural conclusion that all people who were 
 not rich were necessarily as miserable as he had 
 been ; so in a spirit of condescension, mixed with 
 sympathy, he sought to better the judge's lot by 
 showing him a spirit of comradeship. Van Tipple 
 usually graded his acquaintances and the strength 
 of his friendship for them according to the size of 
 their bank account; so in making an exception in 
 the case of Judge Dunn, he was really straining a 
 point. Still, it is probable he would not have 
 done so had he not been actuated by a quiet hint 
 from Gardwell. 
 
 "My dear judge," mumbled Van Tipple one 
 evening, with more than his usual huskiness, as he 
 seated himself beside the judge, "Fortune smiles 
 upon me. I am the child of Fortune." 
 
 "That is pleasant," observed the judge. "There 
 are a great many people who are not even the 
 adopted children, and others who are not so much 
 as recognized as relations at all." 
 
184 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Judge," continued Van Tipple solemnly, "fifty 
 thousand dollars is a nice little piece of money; 
 would you believe me, that is simply what I have 
 picked up to-day? Simply one little deal, and I 
 have added fifty thousand dollars to my account." 
 
 "It is a fortune!" exclaimed the judge, in 
 amazement; "enough to last a man for a life- 
 time." 
 
 "A mere bagatelle, a mere bagatelle," 
 drawled Van Tipple, with a wave of his hand. 
 "If I were not so conservative and in the banking 
 business, I would be worth a million more, a mil- 
 lion of dollars, inside of the next three weeks." 
 
 "Speculation is a dangerous thing, especially 
 for men in the banking business," said the judge 
 earnestly. 
 
 "Ah, my dear judge, do not misunderstand me, 
 do not misunderstand me for a moment. There 
 is absolutely no speculation in it at all; simply 
 investment." 
 
 "Yes, but the elements of chance have entered 
 into it more or less." 
 
 "Not a particle, my dear sir, not a particle. 
 Every move that I make is made on information, 
 coupled with mature judgment." 
 
 "Where does this money come from that you 
 get?" inquired the judge. 
 
 "Why, how do I know?" replied Van Tipple, 
 casting a doddering gaze on the two judges that 
 he saw before him. "From some one who has 
 got the money, or else I wouldn't get it." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 185 
 
 "Ah, there is the point," said the judge sadly. 
 "Much of it comes from men who have toiled and 
 labored to gather it together and who have been 
 swept into this vortex of speculative mania." 
 
 "No, sir; no, sir," cried Van Tipple emphati- 
 cally, at the same time bringing his hand down on 
 the table. "The money that I get by these little 
 flyers of mine comes from the money bags of Wall 
 Street. It comes from the vaults of millionaires, 
 and not from the hands of the sons of toil." 
 
 "If that is the case," said the judge, "I wish 
 you Godspeed! and may success attend all your 
 future efforts in that line." 
 
 He arose to go, but Van Tipple laid an unsteady 
 hand on his shoulder. 
 
 "Wait a minute," he said, "I want to talk to 
 you." 
 
 The judge frowned, but resumed his seat. 
 
 "Judge," began Van Tipple solemnly, "you 
 are a poor man." 
 
 "I am richer than I ever was before in my life," 
 replied the judge. "I am well content." 
 
 "Judge," said Van Tipple after he had swal- 
 lowed another glass of wine, for he had been drink- 
 ing steadily during the conversation, "judge, it is 
 a burning shame. I am going to look after you." 
 
 The judge glanced sharply at the swaying wreck 
 before him, and made no reply. 
 
 "Judge," continued Van Tipple, "I 'm going to 
 take you in with me to-morrow on a good thing 
 and a sure thing. It has been waiting a month, 
 
186 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 and to-morrow is the day. I '11 put you down for 
 five thousand." As he spoke, he fumbled in his 
 pocket, and drawing out a note-book, made a memo- 
 randum upon it in a scrawly, unsteady hand. 
 
 "Excuse me, Mr. Van Tipple," said the judge 
 with much dignity, "but you are going a little too 
 far. I do not care to engage in speculation of 
 any sort." 
 
 "Certainly not, certainly not," replied Van 
 Tipple. "I wouldn't think of such a thing. I 
 like you, Judge Dunn. We need more men like 
 you on the bench. The judiciary is the bulwark 
 of the people and the sheet-iron anchor of the lib- 
 erty of the country. You and I, judge, you and 
 I 
 
 At this moment Gardwell entered the room, and, 
 taking in the situation at a glance, came to the 
 rescue. 
 
 "I have been looking for you, judge," he said; 
 "we are half an hour late now." 
 
 "Hello, Gardwell!" exclaimed Van Tipple, ex- 
 tending his wavering hand, which Gardwell took 
 and held, while the judge got out of his chair and 
 came around the table. "Here 's the best fellow 
 in the world Elliot Gardwell. Gardwell, you 're 
 the captain of 'em all." 
 
 "I'll wait while you get your coat and hat, 
 judge," said Gardwell, "and meet you at the 
 door." 
 
 "Van Tipple," said Gardwell, when the judge 
 had gone, at the same time giving him a look of 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 187 
 
 such malignity that it did more to sober him than 
 would a dozen glasses of seltzer and lemon, "Van 
 Tipple, you 're drunk, beastly drunk. You ought 
 to go home." He dropped Van Tipple's hand, 
 and turning, walked away. 
 
 "Drunk! Home!" repeated Van Tipple. "I 
 guess that 's right. Anyway, Gardwell's tips are 
 usually pretty good. Guess I will follow it this 
 time." 
 
 When Gardwell and the judge were passing out 
 the door, Van Tipple followed after them, and 
 cried out to the judge, "I say, judge, is that all 
 right?" 
 
 "Tell him Yes," whispered Gardwell, "or we 
 shall never get rid of him." 
 
 "Yes," said the judge, nodding, "everything is 
 all right, Mr. Van Tipple; good-night." 
 
 "I thought so," mumbled Van Tipple, tottering 
 back into the room. "He 's a fine man. All he 
 needs is money, and he '11 be all right." 
 
 "It is strange, and at the same time sad, to see 
 how a man will stupefy himself with liquor," said 
 the judge, as he and Gardwell walked up the 
 street. "I knew he was a hard drinker, but I 
 never saw him in such a condition before. It is 
 positively disgusting, and I don't know what I 
 should have done if you had not come in just when 
 you did." 
 
 "Van Tipple is really a very fine fellow," said 
 Gardwell, " and has a lovely family. He is a man 
 of excellent judgment, of sterling integrity, and a 
 
188 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 more honorable one I never knew. You never 
 have seen him during business hours, have you? " 
 
 "No," said the judge; "it has always been late 
 in the afternoon or early in the evening." 
 
 " Well, then you have only seen his worst side, 
 and you would not recognize him if you saw him 
 sitting cold as ice in his bank office. He has a 
 keen intellect and a vigorous brain when he is 
 sober. But it cannot last long under the strain 
 of abuse to which it is being subjected." 
 
 "Why don't he take the gold cure?" inquired 
 the judge. 
 
 "Oh," replied Gardwell, with a laugh, "that's 
 common. It is n't fashionable, you know. Rich 
 men either drink themselves to death or commit 
 suicide. A Turkish bath and a champagne cock- 
 tail, coupled with a good resolution, paint a rain- 
 bow which veils the chasm that lies before the 
 drunkard, be he poor or rich, and the rainbow 
 costs money. The poor man sees the chasm, 
 the rich one does not." 
 
 "He had the audacity," said the judge, "to 
 offer to take me in with him on some of his specu- 
 lations. He actually took out a pad of paper and 
 put me down for five thousand." 
 
 "Did he write it down?" asked Gardwell sud- 
 denly, and yet in an apparently careless tone. 
 
 "Yes," answered the judge; "and had he not 
 been in liquor as he was, I should have rebuked 
 him. In fact, even as it is, I regret that I did not 
 give him a piece of my mind." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 189 
 
 "There are a good many men in this city who 
 would have liked to have been in your place," said 
 Gardwell. " Van Tipple has wonderful judgment, 
 and bases his operations on the best of informa- 
 tion. He is not known as a speculator, but in the 
 slang of the day is called a 4 sure-thing player ' 
 by some. He is perfectly honorable and straight- 
 forward." 
 
 "He appears to have some good qualities," as- 
 sented the judge, "and he was certainly very cour- 
 teous to me when I first came into the club. How 
 much is he worth ? " 
 
 " A trifle less than a million dollars, but he is 
 adding to it all the time by careful investments 
 and shrewd speculations, if you would call them 
 such." 
 
 "What a pity it is not divided among a number 
 of people," said the judge thoughtfully. "How 
 much more good it would do." 
 
 " How many people would you divide it among, 
 judge, may I ask? " 
 
 "Well, say fifty families. But here we are at 
 home. The walk has n't seemed anything. Won't 
 you step in a minute? I have a new specimen that 
 I wish to show you." 
 
 "No," said Gardwell; "I have an engagement 
 farther up this street, and must bid you good- 
 night." 
 
 "Ah," thought Gardwell, as he walked away 
 from the house, "our country friend is beginning 
 to feel the force of environments. Two years ago 
 
190 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 he would have divided a million dollars among a 
 thousand people and thought each one of them 
 rich." 
 
 Van Tipple, through his confidential broker, 
 made a plunge the next day, and when he settled 
 up in the evening he was sixty thousand dollars 
 to the good. As he was arranging his papers, 
 preparatory to leaving his office, he noticed a 
 scrawl on a scrap of note-paper. He picked it up, 
 and, glancing at it, exclaimed, " By Jove ! I had 
 forgotten all about this. Judge Dunn is in on 
 this deal. He must have been the mascot." He 
 looked at the paper again. "Five thousand! 
 Well, well, let me see. Six thousand five hundred 
 and seventy dollars. Well, that 's not bad for a 
 beginner. Well, he 's entitled to it. I remember 
 asking him the last thing if it was all right, and 
 he said it was." He made a memorandum on a 
 slip of paper and closed his desk. 
 
 Two days later Judge Dunn received a letter, 
 written on the letter-head of the bank of which 
 Van Tipple was the president, setting forth that 
 a certain number of shares of X & Y stock had 
 been purchased on his, Judge Tracy Dunn's, or- 
 ders, and that they had been closed out at a net 
 profit of six thousand five hundred and seventy 
 dollars, for which amount there was a draft in- 
 closed. 
 
 The judge was furious. He crumpled the letter 
 and the check in his hand and threw them into 
 the waste-basket. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 191 
 
 "The scoundrel! " he muttered. "How does he 
 dare seek to involve me in such a transaction! 
 By the Lord ! if I had him here I would flail the 
 carpet with him. Six hundred and fifty-seven 
 dollars ! Why, it is nothing more nor less than a 
 bribe; at best it is a present." 
 
 He paced the floor in thought for a few mo- 
 ments, and then going to the waste-basket fished 
 the check out again, and smoothing the wrinkles 
 examined it. 
 
 "Six thousand five hundred and seventy dol- 
 lars ! " he exclaimed. "It is worse than I thought. 
 This is serious." 
 
 He walked rapidly back and forth in his cham- 
 bers, cracking his knuckles and thinking deeply. 
 A year's salary made in a moment. He thought 
 of the tipsy banker at the club, and he recalled 
 every incident and detail. Perhaps, after all, 
 Van Tipple meant nothing wrong, but was simply 
 following out what he considered a strictly legiti- 
 mate business transaction. Should he take it? 
 Could he take it? No. Supposing the market 
 had gone the other way, would he have had the 
 money to make good the loss, or would he have 
 made it good, even if he could, considering that 
 he had not for a moment thought that he was en- 
 tering into any speculation ? No. He was not to 
 be tempted. He would return the check at once, 
 return it personally, and in case he found that 
 Van Tipple had acted in good faith he would not 
 be too harsh with him. Should he tell his wife or 
 
192 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 Harriet? No. But he must tell some one, con- 
 sult with some one. Who else was there but 
 Gardwell? He would tell Gardwell. Anything 
 that he might say would not alter his determina- 
 tion to return the money and repudiate the entire 
 deal. 
 
 Gardwell called early that evening, bringing 
 with him a magnificent butterfly, which he had 
 just received from Pensacola, Florida. He also 
 brought a copy of the latest book for Harriet. 
 
 "Oh, how kind of you, Mr. Gardwell," said 
 Harriet; "but you have very sharp ears. You 
 were on the other side of the room, and there was 
 a frightful buzz of conversation at the Hawkins' 
 reception when I told Kate Thorndike that I 
 wanted to read this book. I know it was then, for 
 that is the only time I have ever mentioned the 
 book. But I really did want to read it, so you 
 see I was probably the one who said the only thing 
 that was really meant during the evening." 
 
 "I don't remember hearing you say anything 
 about it," replied Gardwell. "I simply had an 
 impression. Perhaps it was thought transmis- 
 sion." 
 
 "Do you believe in that, Mr. Gardwell?" asked 
 Harriet, with a laugh. 
 
 " Certainly ; in some cases I do, and this appears 
 to have been one of them." 
 
 "When I was a little girl," began Harriet, "I 
 used to think that I wanted the moon. Supposing 
 that I should have those thoughts again? " 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 193 
 
 "In 'that case, Miss Dunn," replied Gardwell, 
 with a bow, "I should endeavor to get it for you." 
 
 "Harriet," said the judge, entering the room 
 just at that moment, "you must excuse us, but 
 I have some very important business with Mr. 
 Gardwell. Come right upstairs, Mr. Gardwell," 
 he continued in a more hurried way than was usual 
 with him, which Gardwell immediately noted. 
 When they were in the butterfly study, the judge 
 shut the door, and, turning to Gardwell, said : 
 
 "What do you suppose that that inebriated 
 banker, Van Tipple, has done? There, sir," he 
 said, producing the check and holding it out at 
 arm's length from him, "there, sir, is a check 
 which he has had the audacity to mail to me." 
 
 Gardwell took the check, looked at it carefully, 
 and, handing it back to the judge, said : 
 
 "Well, it 's good. I '11 tell you that." 
 
 "Good!" roared the judge. "Good! do you 
 suppose that is what I showed it to you for? If 
 I didn't believe it was good, I wouldn't care a 
 rap about it. That 's the point, the main point. 
 It is good. He has practically sent me a present 
 of six thousand five hundred and seventy dollars." 
 
 Gardwell smiled. "My dear judge," he said, 
 "there is evidently some misunderstanding here. 
 Van Tipple believes that he owes you this or he 
 would not have sent it to you. He is not the man 
 to make presents, not to the tune of six thousand- 
 dollar checks, at least. And especially not to 
 judges on the federal bench." 
 
194 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "But what does he mean?" cried the judge. 
 "He offered to take me in on what he called a 
 deal, and I protested and told him that I did not 
 care to go in with him. He persisted in it, and 
 I still told him that I did not care to enter into 
 any such transactions." 
 
 " I believe you told me he made a written memo- 
 randum of it," said Gardwell. 
 
 "He scrawled something on a piece of paper." 
 
 "Certainly," said Gardwell. "And he found 
 the scrawl the next day just before he gave his 
 order to his broker; and supposing that it was 
 from you, and knowing his venture to be perfectly 
 safe, he put it in along with his own. It proved 
 to be a heavy winner, and he simply sent you what 
 he believed to be rightfully yours." 
 
 "But supposing it had gone the other way?" 
 queried the judge. 
 
 "Well, that is hardly a supposable case in any- 
 thing that Van Tipple plunges on," replied Gard- 
 well, with a smile. 
 
 "But supposing it had," persisted the judge. 
 
 "I can't," replied Gardwell. 
 
 "But I can't keep it," said the judge. "I can- 
 not feel that it belongs to me." 
 
 "Who does it belong to, then? You will find 
 that Van Tipple will never accept it. I know the 
 man too well." 
 
 "And do you advise me to keep this money? " 
 asked the judge, looking hard at Gardwell. 
 
 "I don't see what else you are going to do with 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 195 
 
 it," replied Gardwell coolly. "It is a perfectly le- 
 gitimate transaction, as I look at it. Here is a 
 man worth in the neighborhood of a million of dol- 
 lars, who wishes to do a favor for a friend who has, 
 we '11 say, not a million of dollars. He takes him 
 in on a deal which he knows to be almost a cer- 
 tainty, so far as freedom from danger of any loss 
 is concerned. The jump in the market is perhaps 
 a great deal more than he expected, and the result 
 is that the friend makes six thousand dollars. He 
 does not make any less than he would otherwise 
 have made, and he accordingly sends his friend 
 that which he believes rightfully belongs to him. 
 The whole thing indicates to me an act of Provi- 
 dence, you may say. The only thing that you can 
 do is to present the case, as you understand it, to 
 Van Tipple ; and if he still insists that it belongs 
 to you, there is nothing else to do but keep it." 
 
 "Mr. Gardwell," said the judge, "six thousand 
 dollars is a great deal of money to me, and it 
 comes now at a time when I can find use for it. 
 My expenses here have been much more than I anti- 
 cipated, but I would rather walk out into the street 
 with my wife and child and earn my living again 
 as a country lawyer, yea, by the toil of my hands 
 even, than to add to my store one ill-gotten penny." 
 
 "I believe you," cried Gardwell, grasping his 
 hand, "and I would be the last person to advise 
 you to do anything that would cause you a moment 
 of regret or the slightest qualm of conscience." 
 
 "Gardwell," said the judge, deeply moved, "I 
 
196 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 believe you, and I thank you. I shall need more 
 of your advice in this matter, and shall rely greatly 
 upon your judgment. At any rate, I will see 
 Van Tipple to-morrow." 
 
 "Do so," said Gardwell; "and perhaps by that 
 time I may have some suggestion to offer." 
 
 Arm in arm, just as they had done in Bower- 
 ville, on the occasion of Gardwell's first visit to 
 the judge's study, the two men went down the 
 stairs; and when the judge wrung Gardwell's 
 hand, bidding him good-night, he felt that he had 
 never known a more loyal friend, or one on whose 
 judgment he could place greater reliance. 
 
 "Tracy," began Mrs. Dunn at the breakfast- 
 table the next morning, "I find it costs a great 
 deal more to keep house in the city than it did in 
 Bowerville. I fear I am a poor manager, too; 
 for on looking up matters, I find I am a hundred 
 dollars behind." 
 
 "Don't worry, my dear," said the judge. "We 
 have certainly got enough to pull through on." 
 
 "I know, but it seems to me to be such a dread- 
 ful waste of money; and to tell the truth, I am 
 worried all the time. The expenses are constantly 
 increasing. We seem to be finding some new 
 way in which to spend money every day." 
 
 " We have moved up a peg or so in the world," 
 replied the judge, laughing. "It is not you and 
 Harriet alone. Why, even my clothes cost more 
 money than they used to." 
 
 "I was thinking of that, too, papa," said Har- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 197 
 
 riet, "but I believe it is money well spent. You 
 have no idea how distinguished looking you are 
 with your silk hat and your patent leather shoes. 
 But I am waiting for the time when you will come 
 out in your dress suit." 
 
 "Well, Harriet, I guess the time isn't very far 
 distant," observed the judge. "I notice that men 
 a great deal older than I am appear in evening 
 dress, and I fear that I am attracting attention, 
 and will be considered old-fogyish in sticking to 
 the old frock coat." 
 
 "Mercy! " interrupted Mrs. Dunn. "He won't 
 know what to do with his hands. He is bad 
 enough now." 
 
 "Ahem! " coughed the judge. "I have not no- 
 ticed that there are many Apollos among the older 
 generation in society, so far as I 've been. I do 
 not remember of finding a dress suit in the inven- 
 tory of a slaughter-house or a brewery. Your 
 husband may have come a little later than some of 
 the gentlemen whom I have met in our new set, 
 but he didn't have to come so far." 
 
 "You and Harriet may like it," said Mrs. 
 Dunn, "but I am free to confess that I don't. 
 You both take to it naturally, but I am a failure, 
 and I know it. For my part, I would rather be 
 back in Bowerville." 
 
 "Well, dear," said the judge, "perhaps we shall 
 some time go back there and live in the old place." 
 
 "Then you are not going to sell it, papa," cried 
 Harriet. 
 
198 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "No; not right away," he replied. 
 
 A somewhat similar conversation was meanwhile 
 being carried on in the kitchen, although it was 
 a more animated one. 
 
 "Rufus Pease," said Betsy severely, "you are 
 going to rack and ruin. I never see such a change 
 in a man in all my born days as there 's been in 
 you. The Lord knows you was bad enough in 
 Bowerville, but here you are simply scand'lous. 
 What do you expect is going to become of you, 
 anyway?" 
 
 "Oh, I '11 win out," answered Rufus; "they say 
 I 'm the best ever." 
 
 "There you go again," cried Betsy, with a scorn- 
 ful look. "Using the most outlandish and hea- 
 thenish slang. Who says you are the best ever? 
 The best that ever laid around and didn't do 
 enough to earn his salt. That 's what you 're the 
 best ever. Where did you get that peeled nose 
 and them scratches on your face?" 
 
 "Oh, I took a little spin on a wheel," replied 
 Rufus. "But you bet I rode the durn thing." 
 
 " Goodness sakes alive ! do you mean to tell me 
 that a man of your age has been getting onto one 
 of them things ? I should think you 'd be ashamed 
 of yourself. But there is one consolation, and 
 that is that you will never dare to wear them knee 
 pants. You would look like a wishbone stuck 
 into a potato. I wish I had you back in Bower- 
 ville again, I 'd make you stand around." 
 
 "Not me in Bowerville again," said Rufus cheer- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 199 
 
 ily; "they want me here. Why, I have had doz- 
 ens and dozens of jobs offered me. A few nights 
 ago a fellow offered me six dollars a week to do 
 nothing else but just sit around and keep the cows 
 off the court-house steps." 
 
 "Yes, you was in liquor last night; I can tell 
 by the way you come in and the way you look 
 to-day." 
 
 "Nothing of the kind," retorted Rufus indig- 
 nantly. "I only had a small shine on." 
 
 " Small shine on ! There you go again. Well, 
 you get up and get a small shine on the front 
 steps." 
 
 Rufus thought it wise to obey, or at least to 
 make a pretense of doing so. He went out, and 
 was soon engaged in an interesting discussion on 
 sporting topics with the coachman next door. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 GAEDWELL went with the judge the next day to 
 see Van Tipple, whom they found in his office at 
 the bank, but it was not the first time that day 
 that Gardwell and the banker had seen each other. 
 
 "This is a double pleasure," cried Van Tipple, 
 rising from his chair, and advancing with his hand 
 extended to the judge, and then, turning to Gard- 
 well, "you are just the man I wanted to see; I 
 waited for you at the club last evening." 
 
 "I am sorry," said Gardwell, "but I had an- 
 other engagement." 
 
 As Gardwell had foretold, the judge found that 
 the Van Tipple of the bank and the Van Tipple 
 of the club were entirely different persons. The 
 banker was so polite and so deferential in his self- 
 possessed and polished way, that the judge was at 
 a loss how to broach the subject which was on his 
 mind. He expected that the banker would refer 
 to their joint speculation, but Van Tipple did not 
 show the least sign of touching upon that topic. 
 The judge looked appealingly to Gardwell; but 
 that gentleman, usually so quick to anticipate his 
 slightest wish, was now singularly obtuse. This 
 could not last forever, and the judge soon realized 
 that he must be the one to break the ice. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 201 
 
 "Mr. Van Tipple," he began, with a little 
 cough, after a pause in the conversation which nei- 
 ther of the other two seemed inclined to break, " I 
 have called upon you in order to straighten out what 
 appears to be a misunderstanding on your part." 
 
 Van Tipple looked and expressed surprise. 
 "Why, I know of no misunderstanding between 
 us. I rather pride myself on the fact that I am 
 not much given to misunderstandings." 
 
 "I refer," replied the judge, u to this check, 
 which you mailed to me." He reached into his 
 pocket and drew it forth, holding it between his 
 thumb and forefinger. 
 
 "Why, it cannot be possible that there is any 
 misunderstanding about that," said Van Tipple, 
 with renewed surprise. "I figured it up myself. 
 Your order was five thousand, I am certain, for 
 that was the amount on the memorandum which I 
 made at the club. However, if there is any short- 
 age, I stand ready to make it good." 
 
 "My dear sir," broke forth the judge with much 
 austerity, "you now surely misunderstand me. It 
 is not that the amount is insufficient, but, on the 
 contrary, I do not feel that I am entitled to one 
 cent of it, and I now return you your check." 
 
 He leaned forward and placed it on the banker's 
 desk. 
 
 "What does this mean?" cried Van Tipple, 
 jumping up and casting an inquiring glance at 
 Gardwell. " If you think there is anything irregu- 
 lar in this transaction, please be more explicit. 
 
202 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 This is the first time that my business methods 
 have been questioned, and I am surprised to have 
 it come from you, Judge Dunn." 
 
 "Allow me to explain," interposed Gardwell. 
 "The fact is, Van Tipple, the judge feels that he 
 is not entitled to this money, and he desires to 
 return it to you." 
 
 "On what ground? " asked Van Tipple. 
 
 "On the ground that I had no desire to enter 
 into any speculation," said the judge, "and I did 
 not understand that I was to engage in one." 
 
 "Pardon me," replied the banker, "but you 
 will do me a favor by not referring to the invest- 
 ments I make as speculations. I am a banker, 
 and I do not like the word; much less would I 
 engage in the practice. I happened to be in pos- 
 session of some reliable information, when I met 
 you, that evening, at the club. Purely as an act 
 of friendship and without any solicitation from 
 you, I gave you an opportunity to profit by it, 
 which was no great act of generosity on my part, 
 since by no chance would it cost me anything." 
 
 "But I did not desire to avail myself of your 
 offer," interrupted the judge, "and I supposed 
 that was understood by you." 
 
 "On the contrary," replied Van Tipple, "I 
 made a written memorandum of it, and I also re- 
 member that I took the precaution to ask you, just 
 as you were leaving, if it was all right, and you 
 replied that it was. I think that Mr. Gardwell 
 will bear me out in that." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 203 
 
 "I remember the question and the answer," 
 said Gardwell quietly, "but I had no idea what 
 you were referring to." 
 
 "But I had," said Van Tipple, "and I acted 
 accordingly." 
 
 "But if it had gone the other way," cried the 
 judge, "I should not have felt under any obliga- 
 tion to make good the loss." 
 
 "It could not go the other way," said Van Tip- 
 ple decisively; "but even if such a thing were 
 possible, and had it taken place, I should always 
 have felt that Judge Dunn owed me that amount. 
 A verbal agreement between gentlemen in the 
 club, I have always considered to be binding. 
 However, that has nothing to do with the case 
 now. This money certainly does not belong to 
 me, and if it does not belong to you whom does it 
 belong to? Do you want me to take it?" 
 
 "I feel that it rightfully belongs to you," replied 
 the judge firmly. 
 
 " And I, on the other hand, feel that it is yours. 
 See here, judge, you shouldn't ask me to do a 
 thing that you wouldn't do yourself." 
 
 "How 's that? " asked the judge. 
 
 "Why, you say this money does not belong to 
 you, and feeling that it does not you want me to 
 take it. Now I feel that it does not belong to me, 
 consequently you have no right to ask me to take 
 it. So far as I am concerned, I shall never change 
 my opinion concerning its ownership. If there is 
 any charitable institution to which you would like 
 
204 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 to donate it, I can forward it for you without your 
 identity being revealed. But in that case it would 
 be your gift, and I would merely act as your 
 agent." 
 
 "Gentlemen," interrupted Gardwell at this 
 point, "allow me to make a suggestion which per- 
 haps you both may approve of." 
 
 "Go ahead," said Van Tipple. The judge 
 nodded assent. 
 
 "Very well," said Gardwell; "the suggestion 
 about a charitable institution is a good one, but I 
 would impose certain conditions : that the princi- 
 pal here be paid, at the expiration of one year, to 
 any institution which you may mutually agree 
 upon, provided it remains at that time intact, but 
 in the meantime that it be left here in Mr. Van 
 Tipple's hands for investment. Should it be lost, 
 the judge will be where he started, and you, Van 
 Tipple, will be nothing out. 
 
 "The proceeds from the investment of this sum, 
 if there be any, should go to Judge Dunn's credit; 
 for I must confess, from what I know of the cir- 
 cumstances, that the money rightfully belongs to 
 him, judged from a purely business standpoint, 
 although he may not see it in that light. He can- 
 not conscientiously accept it now, but in this way 
 you will be blending charity with business ; and if 
 it is true that the Lord looks after the orphan and 
 the widow, they will be some six thousand dollars 
 better off at the end of the year. Is that satisfac- 
 tory to you, Van Tipple?" 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 205 
 
 "Certainly," replied the banker, "though I do 
 not feel that I have anything to say in the matter. 
 However, I will waive that so far as to say that 
 I agree to your proposition." 
 
 "How does it strike you, judge?" inquired 
 Gardwell. 
 
 "It would be a pity to have the money lost in 
 speculations," observed the judge. "Wouldn't it 
 be better for us to send the amount to some chari- 
 table institution now? " 
 
 "Us!" roared Van Tipple, with a great show 
 of indignation. "Us? Judge Dunn, I have em- 
 phatically stated, and Mr. Gardwell has borne me 
 out in the opinion, that I do not own one penny of 
 this money. It is yours, and any business man, 
 and I think I may add any judge, would say that 
 I am right. If you desire to be munificent in your 
 charities you can send the money wherever you 
 choose. I would like to add, however, that I am 
 not in the habit of wasting the funds of widows 
 and orphans which may be intrusted to my care." 
 
 "You do not understand me," protested the 
 judge, who was beginning to waver and to think 
 that perhaps after all he was wrong. " But I do 
 not wish to become involved in any speculation 
 I beg your pardon investment, if you desire 
 so to call it." 
 
 "Oh, you need have no fear of that," said Gard- 
 well quickly. "Van Tipple will take care of that, 
 and you will receive a statement at the end of the 
 year. Pardon me, judge, but do not be such a 
 
206 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 stickler. Let Providence, or luck, or whatever 
 you may choose to call it, decide the matter. The 
 Lord moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to 
 perform," he devoutly added. 
 
 The judge looked at him sharply, but his face 
 was solemn and the light of sincerity glowed from 
 his eyes. Van Tipple turned and looked out of 
 the window. 
 
 "Very well," said the judge, "we will let it 
 stand in that way. But I cannot help thinking it 
 an unfortunate state of affairs." 
 
 "Very fortunate, I should say," Gardwell re- 
 plied, with a laugh. "It will doubtless give to 
 some worthy charity six thousand dollars which 
 otherwise would have remained in the coffers of 
 some Eastern millionaire." 
 
 "True, true!" exclaimed the judge. "Well, 
 all 's well that ends well, and, Mr. Van Tipple, I 
 desire to ask your pardon if I have in any way 
 hurt your feelings. I assure you that I did not 
 desire to do so. I cannot look upon these matters 
 in the light that you and Mr. Gardwell do. But 
 perhaps you are right and I am wrong, after all. 
 However, I can see nothing so very wrong in it as 
 it now stands. What Mr. Gardwell says in refer- 
 ence to the good that the money may do puts an- 
 other light on it in my eyes." 
 
 The judge and Gardwell took their departure, 
 but fifteen minutes later Gardwell was back in 
 Van Tipple's office, and the two men were shaking 
 hands together. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 207 
 
 "Van Tipple," said Gardwell, "virtuous indig- 
 nation is your long suit. You would make a hit 
 in it." 
 
 "And generosity is yours," replied Van Tipple. 
 "Elliot Gardwell! the friend of the widow and 
 orphan ! 4 The Lord moves in a mysterious way, 
 his wonders to perform. ' ' 
 
 "Don't scoff or blaspheme," said Gardwell, his 
 manner suddenly changing. "I came back to see 
 you in reference to the investment of the fund. I 
 wish it done under my direction and on informa- 
 tion which I shall furnish you." 
 
 "You will have no objection to my availing my- 
 self of this information to some extent? " asked 
 Van Tipple. 
 
 "To the same extent as that of the judge," said 
 Gardwell. "Put in an equal amount, and make 
 it a joint fund." 
 
 "All right; and we '11 call it ; Charity fund A/ 
 or perhaps 4 Federal B ' would be better." 
 
 "Van Tipple," said Gardwell, turning with a 
 snap and an ugly look on his face, "you are too 
 much inclined of late to make light of serious 
 matters. Besides, you talk too much at times 
 after business hours; at the club, for instance." 
 
 The blood seemed to run down from Van Tip- 
 ple's nose and spread to the rest of his face. 
 
 "I don't know by what right " 
 
 "Yes, you do," interrupted Gardwell. "You 
 know by what right I talk bluntly and frankly to 
 you. Van Tipple," he said, changing to a softer 
 
208 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 tone, "times are coming when a man must have 
 a clear head and a steady nerve. You are drink- 
 ing too hard, and it is liable to get us into trouble. 
 You came very near upsetting my plans in this 
 matter by indulging in too much wine." 
 
 "You take advantage " began Van Tipple. 
 
 "There are few of whom I cannot take advan- 
 tage, if I choose to," again interrupted Gardwell 
 sharply. "But enough of this. Can you afford 
 to quarrel with Elliot Gardwell when he wants to 
 be your friend? " 
 
 "No; I cannot. But I think you are rather 
 hard on me. I have never disappointed you yet." 
 
 "No; and I don't want you to. It was one dis- 
 appointment that lost for Napoleon the battle of 
 Waterloo. Be careful that nothing is said of this 
 affair with the judge, and do not talk with him 
 about it, either." 
 
 "There is no danger," said Van Tipple. "But 
 it strikes me that you are changing, Gardwell. 
 You never used to be nervous about small matters, 
 and you are not looking as well as you used to." 
 
 "I am not nervous about small matters, Van 
 Tipple. Matters that look small on the surface at 
 the moment are apt to be important factors in the 
 big events of the future. As for my health, I 
 never felt better in my life. By the way, how 's 
 the widow?" 
 
 "Ss-h!" replied Van Tipple, placing a finger 
 on his lips and jerking the thumb of his other 
 hand over his shoulder towards the stenographer 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 209 
 
 "Oh! " exclaimed Gardwell; with a laugh, u but I 
 mustn't keep you from your dictation. Good-by." 
 
 "The old firm of W. & W. is particularly dan- 
 gerous when it gets into the banking business," 
 he muttered, as he went down the steps of the 
 bank. "I will keep an eye on Van Tipple. But 
 I must be looking pretty bad when a man like him 
 can see worry and care on my face. I must be 
 more careful in the future." 
 
 And from that time on, for several months, 
 Gardwell cultivated a cheeriness of manner and 
 a light-heartedness of spirit that called forth many 
 congratulations from his friends on his greatly im- 
 proved health, and Van Tipple was one of the 
 first. 
 
 When Judge Dunn returned from the confer- 
 ence at the bank, he was unable, for a time, to 
 analyze his feelings. He felt relieved that the 
 check was no longer in his possession, but he real- 
 ized that he was a party to what was to be, in his 
 opinion, a series of speculations. In a faint way 
 he hoped that the money would be lost, and then 
 it would occur to him that some worthy charitable 
 institution would be the only loser. Then his 
 thoughts would run off into another channel. 
 What if Van Tipple should be both lucky and dar- 
 ing, and at the end of the year notify him that 
 forty or fifty thousand dollars had been made ? It 
 gave him a pleasant little glow to think of this at 
 first, but he immediately stamped out the flame, 
 and tried to picture to himself how unfortunate it 
 
210 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 would be, placing him, as it would, in a position 
 where he could not explain how he had come into 
 possession of so much wealth. Then a little voice 
 would come up and whisper, "But who '11 know? 
 who '11 know?" After all, he thought, the money 
 would come from those who could well afford to 
 spare it, and perhaps it might fall into much worse 
 hands than his own. He could do what he chose 
 with the money, and he thought of many ways in 
 which it might be expended, and the world be 
 better off for it and he none the worse. 
 
 These mental arguments, which he went over 
 almost daily, usually concluded with a compromise 
 to the effect that it would be for the best to have 
 the speculation come out even at the end of the 
 year, leaving the principal for some worthy char- 
 ity, and as a little addendum came the thought 
 that perhaps it would be just as well to have a few 
 hundred dollars over. He could use that for Har- 
 riet and her mother. 
 
 And while the judge thus thought, and Gard- 
 well's mind was frequently on it too, the two men 
 in their conversations never came closer to the 
 subject than butterflies. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 GARDWELL was now consumed with his passion 
 for Harriet Dunn. And Harriet had grown to 
 know that it was something more than the light of 
 friendship which glowed in Gard well's dark eyes 
 when he looked at her. He did not know when it 
 had begun, and she could hardly tell when she 
 discovered it. It had gradually dawned upon her, 
 so gradually, in fact, that there was no shock. 
 Gardwell had as yet not voiced his feelings, but 
 the girl knew them, nevertheless, by intuition, 
 and knew them as well as though he had told her 
 in so many words. He was ever tender with her, 
 humoring her every little whim, but behind this 
 there was a power of control, which grew stronger 
 and stronger each day, and to which Harriet lent 
 more and more obedience. It seemed as if he 
 wooed her with his eyes alone ; and sometimes when 
 alone with him (for they often drove together, and 
 he frequently took her to the opera or to social 
 functions which her father and mother did not 
 care to attend) she trembled, and a weakness 
 came upon her. She felt the presence of a power 
 which she could not place or define, but which 
 ruled her, nevertheless. Something like a chill 
 crept over her at these times, and she would have 
 
212 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 
 
 a vague fear of him, a feeling such as some per- 
 sons have when seized with an impulse to jump 
 from a great height although they know that death 
 awaits them below. Away from him she would 
 laugh at these fears. How kind and gentle he 
 always was. How thoughtful! and never, by a 
 single word, had he attempted to push himself 
 beyond the border line of friendship. 
 
 Gardwell would brook no rivals in such an 
 affair, and he disposed of them as effectually as if 
 he had lived in the sixteenth century and used 
 dagger or poison. Some he froze out, and some 
 he snuffed out, taking care that none of them got 
 close enough to play the lover. A few admirers 
 of this beauty of Bowerville he tolerated, making 
 judicious selections, so that in no case was any one 
 of them at all likely to win favor in her eyes. It 
 was not well for a young man to pay marked atten- 
 tion to Harriet Dunn at this period. Franklin 
 Scudday, a fine young fellow, employed in one of 
 the departments of the Trans-American road, who 
 fell in love with Harriet at first sight, and exhib- 
 ited his ardor at three successive functions, went 
 suddenly to New York, despite his protest that he 
 cared for neither increase of salary nor promotion, 
 while Florence McCartney, a dashing young clerk 
 in Van Tipple's bank, who was similarly smitten 
 and who ignored Gardwell' s frowns and danced 
 three times with Harriet at a cotillon party, re- 
 ceived a note a few days later from Van Tipple 
 dismissing him from the bank on the ground that 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 213 
 
 he drank too much to suit the directors. One 
 admirer there was whom Gardwell fostered, pro- 
 tected, and encouraged. He was a weak young 
 man with a hollow chest, a vacant smile, and a 
 disposition impervious to any rebuff which was not 
 backed up by physical force. Insipid as he was 
 by nature, the money of a rich father, to which he 
 was the only heir, made him a palatable dish in 
 society, for which many a fair hand was stretched 
 forth. It put a number of middle-aged noses out 
 of joint, and turned up a few younger ones, to 
 have him hovering about Harriet and paying court 
 to her in his simple, childish way, but it suited 
 Gardwell's purpose, and he smiled upon him even 
 if Harriet did not, for he knew that she never 
 would. Gardwell took occasion every now and 
 then to refer to him in Harriet's presence as a 
 very worthy young man, who, being blessed with 
 a large fortune and a passive disposition, would 
 make an excellent husband for some young woman. 
 Harriet tried all the mild remedies that she knew 
 of to get rid of the youngster, but really had not 
 the heart to adopt more heroic measures. One 
 afternoon when they were out for a drive, for 
 Gardwell had a dashing team, and this was now 
 his only diversion, he took occasion to speak highly 
 of this young man. 
 
 "Please, Mr. Gardwell," she burst out, "please 
 don't mention tha.t horrid little thing to me again. 
 I am sick and tired of seeing him, and it is bad 
 enough to have him around, without having him 
 called to mind when he isn't." 
 
214 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 Gardwell laughed. 
 
 "He is said to be a very good young man. His 
 habits are of the best." 
 
 "He doesn't know enough to be wicked," cried 
 Harriet, with a toss of her head. 
 
 "But he is rich and good at the same time," 
 suggested Gardwell. "That 's a rare combination. 
 He is evidently a devoted admirer of yours." 
 
 "Poor little fellow," she laughed. "But it would 
 not make any difference, no .matter how much he 
 knew; I would never marry a rich young man." 
 
 "Then you have poor young men, and rich old 
 men, in your list of eligibles? " 
 
 "I mean," said Harriet, "that I would not 
 marry a man who had not made his own fortune. 
 A poor young man climbs up while a rich young 
 man has nothing to climb for and usually slides 
 down. But I never would marry a rich old man." 
 
 "But would you consider a middle-aged rich man, 
 if he had made his own fortune?" asked Gardwell. 
 
 Harriet turned and found Gardwell looking at 
 her with that peculiar look in his eyes which she 
 had sometimes seen. The blood came to her face 
 and she looked down. A feeling of f aintness and 
 a consciousness of weakness came upon her. 
 
 "Yes," she replied in a low tone, "if he was 
 the right man, and I loved him." 
 
 "Shall we stop at the Country Club?" asked 
 Gardwell quietly. 
 
 "Yes," said Harriet. "I am thirsty, and would 
 enjoy a sherbet." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 215 
 
 "Not yet," thought Gardwell a few minutes 
 later, as he watched Harriet sipping the cooling 
 draught; "she is really enjoying her sherbet." 
 
 That evening, when alone in her room, Gard- 
 well' s dark face, with the strange light in his eyes, 
 came up before Harriet with a vividness that 
 startled her. Her eyes chanced to fall upon her 
 dresser, and she saw there several tokens of Gard- 
 well' s regard, and also a bunch of flowers, part of 
 a bouquet which he had brought the night before 
 and divided between her and her mother. In the 
 bunch was a spray of forget-me-nots. She sepa- 
 rated the tiny blue blossom from its more preten- 
 tious comrades, and, holding it in her hands, 
 looked at it for some moments. Then she opened 
 a drawer and drew forth a shabby little memory 
 box. In the box were several trinkets, among 
 them two small rings, much too small for her now, 
 and a photograph. The photograph was that of 
 Robert Emmersley taken some years ago. 
 
 "Dear old Bob," she murmured, looking at the 
 picture. "He knew me when mamma and I did 
 the housework, when my hands were brown instead 
 of white, and when there were freckles on my 
 nose. Poor old Bob, he loved me then, I know 
 he did. Perhaps he does yet," she added; "he's 
 such a stubborn fellow." 
 
 And Harriet put the picture back, and when 
 she had retired ignored all traditions by promptly 
 falling to sleep. 
 
 "I had such a queer dream last night," said 
 
216 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 Harriet, at breakfast the next morning. "It was 
 all about Bob Emmersley." 
 
 "Robert Emmersley, you mean," cautioned her 
 mother quietly. 
 
 "Oh, well, we always called him Bob, didn't 
 we? " answered Harriet. "At any rate, I dreamed 
 that he had been elected President, and that he 
 sent for you, papa, to put you up above all the 
 other judges in the country, judge of the Supreme 
 Court, or something of that sort. We went out 
 to Bowerville together, and Bob I mean Robert, 
 - Congressman Emmersley (but President Em- 
 mersley he was in the dream) caught a bass that 
 weighed seven pounds. And then I " 
 
 "Harriet," broke in the judge, "people are not 
 responsible for what they dream. If they were, 
 they would often be open to criticism in the choice 
 of their subjects." 
 
 "But it's only a dream. Don't you want me 
 to tell you about it? " 
 
 "No," said the judge. "I do not care to hear 
 anything further. Mr. Emmersley got himself 
 elected to Congress by being an unmitigated young 
 demagogue, and he hasn't improved any since he 
 got there. He has achieved a cheap sort of noto- 
 riety, and has made several speeches calculated to 
 arouse discontent among people who are in fairly 
 well-to-do circumstances. He is rapidly growing 
 to be a sort of legalized anarchist with a license to 
 preach." 
 
 "Why, I have read all his speeches," cried Har- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 217 
 
 riet. "I haven't found anything so dreadful in 
 them. He simply argues that there ought not to 
 be so many poor people in the country, and that 
 the very rich people ought to give the poor a little 
 of their money. ' Live issues for living men. 
 Dead issues for dead ones. Fair wages for labor, 
 and a reasonable profit for capital, ' is what he said 
 in one of his speeches." 
 
 "You have read them all! " exclaimed the judge 
 in surprise. "You might put your spare time to 
 much better use than reading the harangues of a 
 Populist congressman." 
 
 "But he came from Bowerville, and we used to 
 know him," pleaded Harriet, flushing slightly. 
 
 "Yes, we used to know him," said the judge 
 dryly, "but I do not know him now. I did think, 
 at one time, that there was good material in him, 
 but I was sadly disappointed in the outcome. Did 
 you read his speech in which he attacked the fed- 
 eral judiciary and charged that they were all sub- 
 servient to corporation influences?" 
 
 "No," answered Harriet, "I did not, but he cer- 
 tainly didn't mean you." 
 
 "I should hope not," said the judge, "and he 
 did say there were some exceptions. Neverthe- 
 less, it was a tirade against the bench, and calcu- 
 lated to arouse in the public a feeling of prejudice. 
 There are bad and unscrupulous men in every 
 trade, calling, and profession, but it is not fair 
 to denounce them all for the misdeeds of the few. 
 There is a growing tendency among the richer 
 
218 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 classes to correct these evils and abuses which 
 have grown up, and such men as Gardwell are do- 
 ing more good for the country than all the howling 
 demagogues put together, although I must confess 
 that Mr. Gardwell is something of an exception 
 among the corporation magnates of this country. 
 He has never had a strike on his road, and I be- 
 lieve him when he tells me that one will never 
 take place. He is certainly a wonderful young 
 man, and Congressman Emmersley is a mighty 
 small potato compared to him," concluded the judge, 
 lapsing into one of his old country expressions. 
 
 " Do you consider Mr. Gardwell such a young 
 man?" asked Harriet archly. 
 
 "He is not an old one, by any means," declared 
 the judge, with some dignity. "He 's a fine type 
 of the modern young business man. Do you look 
 upon him as an old man? " 
 
 "No," Harriet answered, "but I never thought 
 of him as a young man. He is old enough to be 
 my father, isn't he?" 
 
 "Harriet," said Mrs. Dunn, "how can you talk 
 about Mr. Gardwell in that way? He has been 
 so kind to us all." 
 
 "Oh, I don't mean anything at all, mamma," 
 cried Harriet. " I think he is a very fine gentle- 
 man, indeed, and he certainly thinks the world of 
 papa." 
 
 "And he seems quite fond of you at times," 
 added Mrs. Dunn, casting a significant look toward 
 Harriet. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 219 
 
 "Yes," replied Harriet, laughing, "he likes me 
 for my papa's sake. Oh, I forgot," she cried, 
 pushing her chair back and jumping up, "I was 
 to telephone to Ethel Berthwerk the first thing in 
 the morning." 
 
 "Be careful, mother," said the judge, after she 
 had left the room, "don't force her any. She is 
 not one of the kind that will stand driving." 
 
 "But I do believe Mr. Gardwell is in love with 
 the child," said Mrs. Dunn. "He as much as 
 told me so one evening in a roundabout way, and 
 he certainly looks it at times." 
 
 The judge was pleased, but he forced a frown 
 and, pursing his lips, replied : 
 
 "Let us not cherish any absurd ambitions, my 
 dear. Mr. Gardwell is a very rich man, indeed, 
 and it is not at all probable that he would think 
 of a poor girl like Harriet for his wife. And it 
 would be just like her to refuse him, anyway. She 
 has the same stubborn streak that her brother had." 
 
 "Oh, Tracy," cried Mrs. Dunn, bursting into 
 tears, "how could you speak unkindly of Tom?" 
 
 The judge jumped up from the table, and, rush- 
 ing around, bent over his sobbing wife, and mur- 
 mured, "Forgive me, dear; forgive me, Mary; I 
 forgot myself." 
 
 "Oh, I wish I was back in Bowerville. I wish 
 I was back in Bowerville," sobbed the poor little 
 woman. "You are changing, Tracy, and I feel 
 sometimes that you are ashamed of your plain old 
 wife." 
 
220 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Never! my dear, never!" cried the judge 
 stoutly. "I have not changed a whit, and I am as 
 proud of you now as I was the day we stood up to 
 be married." 
 
 She looked up into his face and slipped one of 
 her hands into his. 
 
 "I can't fit myself to the new ways as you do," 
 she said. "And I feel so lonesome. I packed 
 his plate and cup away, and the old knife and 
 fork, when we came here, for it was part of my 
 dream that he would come back to the old house, 
 that he would come in through the same door that 
 he went out of." 
 
 "Put them back on the table again, dear," cried 
 the judge. "It's a comfort to you, and he may 
 come back, after all." 
 
 "No," said Mrs. Dunn. "He's grown to be 
 a man now, something that I never realized while 
 we were living in the country if he isn't 
 gone," she gasped. "He's a man by this time, 
 and my little dream is dispelled. It was a foolish 
 dream, but a long and a sweet one, and oh, Tracy, 
 it hurts me so when I realize that after all it was 
 only a dream." 
 
 "God forgive me for being so self-willed and 
 unyielding," said the judge. "But, Mary, I will 
 do everything in my power in the future to make 
 amends. I will find him if I can." 
 
 "Oh, Tracy, dear," cried Mrs. Dunn, sobbing 
 as if her heart would break, "I know now that 
 you do love me yet." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 221 
 
 And in that moment Judge Tracy Dunn breathed 
 a wish that the trust fund of the widows and or- 
 phans might multiply itself many times within the 
 coming year. He would spend it, spend it all, if 
 necessary, in the search for his son spend it for 
 his dear and faithful wife. 
 
 When the judge reached the court-room that 
 morning, he found a note from Elliot Gardwell, 
 saying that he had been called away to New York 
 on important business. "Serious complications 
 have arisen in the affairs of our road," wrote 
 Gardwell. "But I shall find time to take a trip 
 to Washington and see if I cannot possibly secure 
 one or two new specimens from the Smithsonian 
 Institution. If I get them," his note concluded, 
 "my trip will not have been made in vain." 
 
 "It is wonderful," said the judge, "that both of 
 us should have such a passion for butterflies. And 
 yet," he added, "we seem to agree in most things." 
 
 Gardwell was absent longer than he had antici- 
 pated, and it was some weeks before he returned. 
 The judge was lonesome without him, and spent 
 many of his evenings at the club, returning home, 
 however, at an early hour. Van Tipple was drink- 
 ing as hard as usual, but he seemed to rather avoid 
 the judge since their interview in the bank. One 
 night when he was unusually mellow, and corre- 
 spondingly good-natured, he approached the judge, 
 and, taking a seat beside him, said : 
 
 "Excuse me, judge, but have you had any word 
 from Elliot Gardwell? " 
 
222 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "No," answered the judge, mentally resolving to 
 make amends for what he considered his somewhat 
 unkind treatment in the past, by being courteous 
 to Van Tipple, no matter how repulsive he might 
 be to him, in liquor as he was, "no; nothing fur- 
 ther than a couple of specimens which he sent me 
 from Washington." 
 
 "Wonderful man, wonderful man!" said Van 
 Tipple, shaking his head and speaking in a thick 
 manner. "Judge, will you promise to keep a 
 secret if I tell you? You 're not to tell Gardwell 
 under any circumstances." 
 
 "Certainly," assented the judge, "provided it is a 
 proper one. Don't tell me one that isn't proper, 
 though." 
 
 "Oh, it 's proper," said Van Tipple, "eminently 
 proper, and it concerns you more than it does 
 him." 
 
 "Very well, go ahead." 
 
 Van Tipple leaned over the table, so as to be as 
 close to the judge's ear as possible, and whispered 
 in a husky voice : " Thirty thousand dollars in the 
 widows' and orphans' trust fund. Hasn't been a 
 single losing investment. Thirty thousand dol- 
 lars, do you understand? Mum 's the word." He 
 arose and tottered away. 
 
 A chill ran through the judge. 
 
 "Thirty thousand dollars! Thirty thousand 
 dollars!" he repeated to himself. He sat as if 
 stunned. The very thought of so vast a sum to 
 his credit, towards the accumulation of which he 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 223 
 
 had contributed neither capital nor brains nor 
 labor, seemed to stupefy him. And thus he sat, 
 scarcely moving a muscle, until the cuckoo in the 
 clock told him it was a later hour than he had ever 
 stayed at the club before. 
 
 44 Yes, every cent of it for Mary ! " he exclaimed, 
 as he arose ; and taking his hat and cane, he started 
 for home. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE struggle between the two great factions 
 which had so long contended for the control of the 
 Trans-American road appeared to be drawing to 
 a close when Elliot Gardwell reached New York 
 city. The forces of Trine now controlled the 
 majority of the stock, and the annual meeting was 
 not far off. The faction of which Bass was the 
 head, so far as holdings went, and to which Gard- 
 well belonged, was to all appearances defeated, 
 and there appeared to be nothing left to do but to 
 capitulate and make the best terms possible. 
 This was the situation when Gardwell arrived in 
 the East and met Bass. 
 
 "They are too strong for us, Gardwell," said 
 Bass. "We have made a good fight, but we are 
 beaten." 
 
 "That is bad news for me," replied Gardwell, 
 "though I little expected to hear you say the 
 words; I thought that you would never surren- 
 der." 
 
 "Nor do I surrender," cried Bass, with some 
 spirit, "but what would you have me do? There 
 is absolutely no power on earth that can get us 
 out. We have not the forces back of us, the 
 money with which to regain a controlling interest. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 225 
 
 It is easy enough to talk about fighting to the 
 last, and any one can fight until he is pommeled 
 into insensibility; but if a man has reasoning fac- 
 ulties, he always reaches a point where he knows 
 he is beaten, no matter what he may do later on." 
 
 "Then you think there is absolutely no hope?" 
 inquired Gardwell. 
 
 "Absolutely none." 
 
 "Let me ask you a question. Suppose I were 
 to show you a way by which, although in the 
 minority, we might retain control? " 
 
 "Your holdings are almost as great as mine; go 
 ahead." 
 
 "Almost as great! " Gardwell laid some stress 
 on the first word. 
 
 Bass laughed. 
 
 "Gardwell," he exclaimed, "you are a keener! 
 I said almost as great. If you can show me a way 
 by which to retain permanent control, your inter- 
 ests shall be as great as mine. But it must be 
 proven first." 
 
 "Good enough," said Gardwell quietly. "I 
 would put the road into the hands of a receiver." 
 
 Bass smiled pityingly, as he continued : " I said 
 permanent control. It would be easy enough, 
 perhaps, to secure a temporary advantage, but how 
 could we expect to hold it with both the law and 
 the money on their side? With one or the other 
 we might succeed, but without either, never." 
 
 "The law is as the human mind construes it," 
 said Gardwell, "and the belief, in a man's mind, 
 
226 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 that one thing is right and another wrong, makes 
 it so, so far as that mind controls it. As for their 
 money, in this case they would be invincible if 
 they were poor ; but as it is, their money is their 
 one vulnerable point." 
 
 "What do you mean by such talk? " asked 
 Bass in some surprise. 
 
 "I mean," replied Gardwell, "that I know a 
 federal judge who will appoint a receiver, stand 
 by him with the grim tenacity of one of Oliver 
 Cromwell's Roundheads, and feel that he is acting 
 as the agent of Right in frustrating the wicked 
 designs of a grasping corporation. As for money 
 pah! he wouldn't look at it." 
 
 "If you have such a man," said Bass thought- 
 fully, "you have indeed discovered a rara avis. 
 But pray tell me, how did such a man ever get on 
 the federal bench?" 
 
 "I put him there," returned Gardwell quietly. 
 
 "Oh, ho! " cried Bass, with a low whistle, "that 
 explains it. You certainly have a hold on him." 
 
 "No," said Gardwell, "he does not even know 
 that I had anything to do with it. He is a free 
 agent, or at least he imagines he is, although he 
 is bound by a chain which he can never break, 
 and which he has no idea binds him." 
 
 "Well, well," exclaimed Bass, "with such an 
 ally, in such a position, we may yet pull through ! 
 At any rate, it is worth trying." 
 
 To mature and carry out the plans for this new 
 move required no small amount of labor, but 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 227 
 
 Gardwell and Bass bent their energies to the task, 
 and at the end of three weeks nothing remained 
 but for Gardwell to "go home and touch the but- 
 ton," as Bass expressed it. The application for 
 a receivership was made out in the name of a trust 
 company which had large holdings in the Trans- 
 American road ; and so complete were all the de- 
 tails that even the court's decree ordering a re- 
 ceivership was drawn and prepared, lacking only 
 the signature of Judge Dunn. 
 
 Before his return to the West, Gardwell made 
 a flying trip to Washington, and there chanced to 
 meet Emmersley. Life in Washington had given 
 to the young congressman a certain polish which 
 enabled him to conceal his real feelings in a con- 
 ventional manner that was in striking contrast 
 with his former brusqueness, and he greeted Gard- 
 well pleasantly enough. Gardwell at once observed 
 the change, but he knew that behind that conven- 
 tional smile there still lurked the same unbending 
 spirit which made itself known when they parted 
 company at the Bowerville depot. 
 
 "I am delighted to meet you again, congress- 
 man," said Gardwell, with his most winning smile. 
 "I can never forget that if it had not been for 
 your strong arm and steady nerve I should prob- 
 ably not be among the living to-day." 
 
 u lwas amply repaid, "replied Emmersley; "the 
 bicycle you sent me was much superior to the one 
 I had been riding. By the way, how long do you 
 remain in Washington?" 
 
228 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Only to-day," answered Gardwell. "I had a 
 few hours to spare, and took a run down from 
 New York as a sort of a rest." 
 
 "You are at leisure, then, and I have a treat in 
 store for you. I happen to know a man in George- 
 town who has a most remarkable collection of but- 
 terflies, and I would be pleased to take you over 
 there this afternoon. I know you are passionately 
 fond of them!" 
 
 "Nothing would give me greater pleasure," re- 
 turned Gardwell, without a moment's hesitation. 
 "When shall I meet you?" 
 
 "Say one o'clock, if that is convenient." 
 
 "Very well," said Gardwell, "let it be one 
 o'clock. And allow me to say that I greatly ap- 
 preciate your kindness." He shook Emmersley's 
 hand and walked away. 
 
 "A damned shrewd young man," he muttered 
 to himself. 
 
 At one o'clock Congressman Emmersley, loiter- 
 ing in the rotunda of his hotel, received a note 
 from Elliot Gardwell, setting forth that he had 
 suddenly been called back to New York by tele- 
 gram. He laughed softly as he crumpled up the 
 note, saying to himself: "Distance does not lend 
 enchantment to his views of butterflies. The 
 closer he is to the old judge, the more he thinks 
 of them." 
 
 Gard well's homeward trip was as quick as the 
 fastest train could carry him, and was broken only 
 by a stop of one night in Chiopolis. He had 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 229 
 
 scarcely touched foot in Malton when he met Van 
 Tipple, who was waiting to take an out-bound 
 train. 
 
 "Ah," exclaimed the banker, "glad to see you 
 back, Gardwell, glad to see you back! I have 
 been following your instructions implicitly, but I 
 must confess they were somewhat surprising to 
 me. I don't mind saying, however, that in my 
 opinion the ' orphans ' won't be any richer at the 
 end of the year than they are now." 
 
 "Keep your opinions to yourself, Van, or at 
 least tell them to no one but me," was the blunt 
 reply. "Do nothing further until I notify you. 
 I hope you have said nothing to the judge." 
 
 "Not a word," said Van Tipple, "not a word. 
 By the way, I forgot to tell you that he is laid up. 
 Been abed for three days with lumbago, I under- 
 stand." 
 
 "Nothing serious?" asked Gar dwell, with a 
 start. 
 
 "Oh, no," replied Van Tipple; "Dr. Black told 
 me at the club last evening that he thought the 
 judge would be out in a few days. But here 's my 
 train; good-by." 
 
 Gar dwell took a cab, and directed the cabman 
 to take him directly to Judge Dunn's residence. 
 "So Black has got him," he murmured. "Well, 
 I '11 see to it that he don't cut him open until I 
 get through with him." 
 
 Mrs. Dunn and Harriet had gone shopping, 
 and he found the judge stretched out on a lounge 
 
230 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 in the butterfly study. The judge's eyes sparkled 
 when Gar dwell walked into the room, and he tried 
 to rise, but fell back with a twinge of pain. Nev- 
 ertheless, he shook Gardwell's hands with a grasp 
 in which there was very little suggestion of feeble- 
 ness. 
 
 "You don't know how glad I am to see you 
 back. I have been lonesome without you." 
 
 "I hope there is nothing serious the matter," said 
 Gardwell, and for once he was sincere, if he ever 
 was. 
 
 "Oh, no," said the judge; "this is nothing. 
 But to tell you the truth, I mind it, for I have 
 never had anything the matter with me before, as 
 far back as I can remember. I lay it all to being 
 deprived of my exercise of chopping wood in the 
 morning. I tell you there is nothing like swing- 
 ing an axe. When I retire from the bench," he 
 added, with a laugh, "it will be with the ambition 
 to get back where I can have my wood-chopping 
 exercise every morning. But how have you been ? " 
 he asked. 
 
 "I have no cause to complain on the score of 
 health," said Gardwell, a look of deep despon- 
 dency coming over his face, " but business com- 
 plications have arisen, the outcome of which I fear 
 will be the loss to me of what I have struggled for 
 all my life." 
 
 "Why, what do you mean?" asked the judge 
 anxiously. 
 
 "I mean," said Gardwell, rising and beginning 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 231 
 
 to pace up and down the room, "I mean, that it 
 looks as if my associates and myself are about to 
 fall as victims to a combination of capital much 
 stronger than we can hope to cope with. Ah, my 
 friend," he continued, "I now realize the truth of 
 a great deal that you have said in our talks regard- 
 ing corporations and the power of capital. There 
 is, alas, very little conscience where a dollar is 
 concerned, and absolutely none where millions are 
 involved. I have talked differently, and have 
 tried to govern my actions in accordance with the 
 views which I held as to equity and justice in all 
 matters, even if the interests of the corporation 
 were involved. Three years ago I could have 
 crushed the very forces which now rise up against 
 me, and which will show me no mercy, and, what 
 is worse, wreck the immense property of the Trans- 
 American road. I do not care so much for myself, 
 but my heart bleeds when I think of the thousands 
 of innocent bondholders whom we have induced to 
 put their savings into the enterprise, thinking it a 
 safe and profitable investment." 
 
 Gardwell paused, and a groan escaped him. 
 
 "Is there no way by which you can protect your 
 rights?" asked the judge. 
 
 " Eights ! " exclaimed Gardwell. " Might makes 
 right nowadays, as you have often said, judge. 
 What mercy can we expect from men who have 
 millions at their back, and who are as unscrupu- 
 lous as they are powerful? The situation is this: 
 The forces of Trine have enlisted the money of 
 
232 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 the Rothschilds and other foreign capitalists, and 
 have secured the controlling interest. The annual 
 meeting will shortly take place, at which this fac- 
 tion will obtain full control of the great road. 
 Their next step will be to repudiate those obliga- 
 tions, the payment of which does not enhance their 
 own interests, and thousands of stockholders and 
 bondholders will be robbed. Yes, sir; robbed, I 
 say, in the most barefaced, and yet in a legal 
 manner. Had I been as unscrupulous as they 
 have been, had I proved myself the financial 
 trickster that some suppose me to be, these fellows 
 would not now be in a position to take this advan- 
 tage. Why, I could have wiped them out, as they 
 will now demolish me and my associates." 
 
 "Can you not apply to the courts for protec- 
 tion?" asked the judge, attempting to rise on his 
 elbow. "Such a bold and wholesale robbery 
 should never be allowed to be consummated." 
 
 "The courts!" cried Gardwell dramatically. 
 " What court will afford us any lasting protection 
 where the preponderance of power is measured in 
 millions?" Even a receivership for the road, 
 which is the most we could ask for, would be met 
 with opposition as soon as applied for." 
 
 "There is one court," said the judge, suddenly 
 rising and sitting bolt upright on the lounge. 
 "There is one court, and it is the court over which 
 Judge Tracy Dunn has the honor to preside. It 
 has never been said that I flinched in the face of 
 duty, and it never shall be as long as I am alive. 
 

 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 233 
 
 Draw your paper, sir; and if the facts are as you 
 have just represented them to me, you shall be 
 placed under the protection of my court." 
 
 "Judge," said Gardwell, grasping his hand, 
 " I thank you for your noble offer. But you have 
 no idea of the influences which will be brought to 
 bear upon you." 
 
 "What do I care for such influences!" cried 
 the judge, his eyes flashing. "And I take excep- 
 tion, sir, to your use of the word ' noble. ' I do 
 not wish to be eulogized for doing a plain and 
 simple duty. Draw your application for a receiv- 
 ership if that is what you want. I will give it a 
 careful inspection, and act according to my judg- 
 ment, come what may." 
 
 "Very well," assented Gardwell, "but the matter 
 must be kept very quiet, for should it leak out 
 that we shall attempt such a procedure, the other 
 side would immediately go into some other federal 
 court and secure action that might prevent us 
 from gaining our rights." 
 
 "Never fear," said the judge, "right is sure to 
 prevail in the long run. But what a burning 
 shame that such a condition of affairs exists. Af- 
 ter all, young Emmersley did not exaggerate much 
 when he attacked the federal judiciary, if things 
 are as you say." 
 
 The excitement for the moment had kept the 
 judge sitting up, but a sudden twinge in his back 
 caused him to utter a groan, and his flushed face 
 to grow pale. Gardwell rushed to his side and 
 assisted him to lie down. 
 
234 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "I should not have spoken about the matter at 
 all," Gardwell said in a self -reproachful way, 
 "and how it slipped out, I do not know. It will 
 make you worse to get worked up over this. I 
 heard you were slightly indisposed, and came up 
 at once to see you and to bring something that I 
 thought would divert your mind. These are some 
 specimens that my friend Professor Dwight, of 
 the Smithsonian, had saved for me." 
 
 An expression of delight came over the judge's 
 face, and, looking up at Gardwell, he said : 
 
 " Gardwell, these are magnificent ! magnificent ! 
 They do me more good in one minute than all of 
 Black's doctoring in a week." 
 
 "Yes," replied Gardwell; "I have admired 
 them for many a mile on my way from the East, 
 and they caused me to forget my troubles for the 
 while. But I must be hurrying over to the office. 
 I came here directly from the train, where I met 
 Van Tipple, who told me that you were ailing." 
 
 "Good-by," said the judge. "Get your papers 
 ready, and we will see about the matter. I think 
 you will come out all right." 
 
 Gardwell bowed himself out, and when he had 
 gone the judge clinched his fists and shut his jaw. 
 "This is what I have been waiting for," he 
 thought. "I will show them that there is one fed- 
 eral judge who dares to mete out justice and right 
 to the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak. 
 A man like Gardwell deserves encouragement; 
 there are so few of them in his line of business." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 235 
 
 Twenty minutes later Gardwell sent a cipher 
 dispatch to New York, informing Bass that the 
 road would be put into the hands of a receivership, 
 and that himself and Bass would be named as the 
 receivers. "Will notify you when the order is 
 signed," concluded this dispatch. Two days later 
 Gardwell submitted to the judge the papers that 
 he had brought from New York. This was done 
 at the house, for the judge was still laid up with 
 lumbago. 
 
 "I have also drawn the order," said Gardwell, 
 " which you may change as you see fit. I thought 
 perhaps it would save you some labor. Inasmuch 
 as you are somewhat of an invalid, I took the lib- 
 erty of drawing it up for your inspection." 
 
 The two men looked over the papers together, 
 Gardwell explaining the points as they went along. 
 When they had finished, the judge spoke : 
 
 "Well, Gardwell, I don't see here anything 
 different from what you represented to me. I will 
 certainly sign the order for a receivership. Who 
 would you suggest as a receiver?" 
 
 "Mr. Bass and myself," answered Gardwell, 
 without a moment's hesitation. "He is familiar 
 with the Eastern branch of the business, and I of 
 the Western." 
 
 "Well," said the judge hesitatingly, "will that 
 be exactly the " 
 
 "You can name anyone you see fit," interrupted 
 Gardwell, "but in any case they will have to come 
 to us for instructions. If others are named, we 
 
236 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 shall be to all intents and purposes the actual 
 receivers and, at any rate, everything will be done 
 under the direction of the court, and we shall 
 render full and complete reports of all our transac- 
 tions. I thought the straightforward thing to do 
 would be to name us." 
 
 "Yes, you are right," declared the judge. "Of 
 course I do not know Mr. Bass ; but if you can 
 vouch for him, that will be sufficient for me." 
 
 "I vouch for him," Gardwell replied with some 
 emphasis. 
 
 "Very well," said the judge, "then I will sign 
 the order. Present the petition, and I will sign 
 the order, let me see, this is Tuesday, and Black 
 assures me that I can be at court on Thursday, 
 I will sign it on Thursday morning." 
 
 "Very good," said Gardwell, gathering up the 
 papers and putting them into his pocket, "let us 
 drop the matter now, and not discuss it any fur- 
 ther, for it does you no good. What you need is 
 rest and relaxation." 
 
 Engrossed though he was with a daring move 
 which involved millions of dollars and which meant 
 everything to him, Gardwell found time to see 
 Harriet and her mother. He had brought them 
 presents from New York, and after disposing of 
 them he had a few words with Harriet. 
 
 "I met an old friend of yours while in Wash- 
 ington," he said, "Congressman Emmersley." 
 
 "Indeed! Has he raised a Populist beard, and 
 does he let his hair grow long? " asked Harriet. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 237 
 
 "He does neither," answered Gardwell; "he was 
 a very fashionably dressed young man, and I am 
 told that he cuts quite a figure at some of the le- 
 gation receptions." 
 
 "The idea!" exclaimed Harriet, laughing mer- 
 rily. "He was such a clumsy boy when I knew 
 him in Bowerville. I suppose he inquired about 
 us all, and wanted to know all the news, like a 
 true product of the old town? " 
 
 "On the contrary," replied Gardwell, "he men- 
 tioned none of the family. I was with him only 
 a moment or so. I saw him later, driving down 
 the street in a carriage, accompanied by a young 
 lady. I was told that she was one of the daugh- 
 ters of the secretary of the agricultural bureau. 
 You know there is an affinity between a Populist 
 congressman and an agricultural product." 
 
 "It strikes me," said Harriet, flaring up a little, 
 "that Congressman Emmersley is holding his own 
 with the other representatives there. By the way, 
 what is the name of the congressman from this 
 city? I haven't seen him mentioned very often. 
 You see," she coyly added, "I am loyal to Bower- 
 ville." 
 
 "Yes," thought Gardwell, after bidding her 
 adieu, "and loyal to young Emmersley, too." 
 
 On Thursday morning Gardwell wired another 
 cipher to Bass, telling him that the petition would 
 be granted and the order signed at ten o'clock that 
 morning. He added that Bass might make the 
 matter public at noon. 
 
238 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 But just as the judge was starting for court that 
 morning he was taken with a twinge which pros- 
 trated him, and Dr. Black was hurriedly sent for. 
 The doctor at once ordered that the judge should 
 not attempt to go to court for several days. It 
 was ten o'clock when Gardwell learned the fact, 
 and he at once hurried to the house of the judge 
 and represented to him how imperative it was that 
 he be at court to sign the order. 
 
 "But I can't sit up," groaned the judge. "I 
 feel as if my back were broken." 
 
 "Will you go to the court-room and sign this 
 order if I have that pain entirely removed from 
 your back, even if it is only a temporary removal? " 
 asked Gardwell. 
 
 "Why, certainly," said the judge, "if I can 
 possibly get there without being carried, I will do 
 so." 
 
 "Very well," said Gardwell, "I will be back in 
 half an hour." He jumped into his cab and hur- 
 ried down town, returning in a short time with a 
 well-known Swedish masseur. 
 
 The judge, when informed what sort of treat- 
 ment he was to undergo, at first protested, but 
 finally yielded to Gard well's solicitations and 
 placed himself under the care of the flesh manipu- 
 lator. Thanks to hard rubbing, the judge was 
 able, shortly after twelve o'clock, to sit up, and, 
 after submitting to some further treatment, to 
 dress himself and start for the court-room. In 
 the meantime press dispatches coming from the 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 239 
 
 East had announced in every newspaper office 
 that the Trans -American road had been placed in 
 the hands of a receiver, on an order issued by 
 Judge Tracy Dunn. 
 
 Gardwell hustled the judge down to the court- 
 room, and shortly before two o'clock the papers 
 were handed out, a formal motion made, and in- 
 side of ten minutes the whole thing was done, and 
 Gardwell and Bass were in full control of the road, 
 subject only to orders from the judge of the fed- 
 eral court. 
 
 The news created a sensation all over the coun- 
 try. The forces of Trine were furious at the 
 outcome. Several papers controlled by them as- 
 sailed the judge, but he had the satisfaction of 
 reading in his home papers the more than compli- 
 mentary commendations of his action. So that he 
 had no cause to repent of it, and his confidence 
 was stronger than ever in Elliot Gardwell's discre- 
 tion and integrity. 
 
 As for Gardwell, a great load was lifted from 
 his mind, and he felt the jubilance of boyhood 
 returning to him. Congratulatory telegrams poured 
 in on him from the East, and newspaper reporters 
 besieged him for interviews regarding the condi- 
 tion of the road. There was, in fact, so great a 
 transformation in the man, and he was so entirely 
 unlike his former self, that it created comment at 
 the club. He was gay, laughed on the slightest 
 provocation, and talked a great deal. He opened 
 several bottles of wine with Van Tipple, and in 
 
240 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 every way acted like a man who was in a perfect 
 ecstasy of delight. The judge, also, was pleased. 
 He was congratulated at the club, and felt as 
 though he had earned the approval which was 
 everywhere expressed. 
 
 After the first few days of mild celebration over 
 his victory, for victory it was, Gardwell kept very 
 close to his office, for he knew that the other side 
 would soon be moving. He did not underestimate 
 their strength, and he knew them to be both cun- 
 ning and unscrupulous. Bass was on his way 
 West, and the forces of Trine were hurrying to 
 the scene and preparing to do battle in Judge 
 Dunn's court. Having chosen his battle-ground, 
 Gardwell resolved that the fight should not under 
 any circumstances be taken away from him, and 
 on this score he had little fear. He kept close 
 company with Judge Dunn, and never lost an op- 
 portunity to impress upon him the fact that Trine 
 represented millions of foreign capital which was 
 being used for the purpose of crushing out men of 
 smaller means and less extensive resources. The 
 judge grew to esteem himself quite highly, and 
 this esteem was in no whit weakened on perusal of 
 the press clippings with which Gardwell daily 
 supplied him, that astute gentleman having the 
 forethought to always remove those which were 
 written in an unfriendly spirit. 
 
 The lawyers for Trine were soon on the ground, 
 and the fight was begun. It is not necessary to 
 go into the details of this legal struggle in its 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 241 
 
 early stages; suffice it to say that Judge Dunn 
 was firm in his conviction that the receivership 
 was necessary, and it was not his custom to modify 
 his decisions. 
 
 The Gardwell and Bass faction were reinforced 
 in this battle by a famous attorney named Skeener, 
 but it is doubtful if even the added force of his 
 legal acumen served to make the judge one whit 
 firmer in the stand that he had taken. The great 
 lawyers of Gotham thundered and roared and 
 wheedled and coaxed, but to no avail. Judge 
 Dunn could not be moved ; Gardwell was trium- 
 phant, and the annual meeting came and passed 
 without the faction which held the majority of the 
 stock being able in any way to take advantage of 
 their holdings. 
 
 Gardwell and Bass now began laying plans for 
 reaping the benefit of their victory, but they had 
 not proceeded far when a new complication arose, 
 one which threatened most serious consequences. 
 
 For some time there had been discontent among 
 the employees of the great road, and the fire which 
 had smouldered so long bid fair to burst into a 
 flame at any moment. These men were well or- 
 ganized in labor unions, and they demanded an 
 advance in wages, the scale paid being somewhat 
 lower than that on many Eastern lines and the 
 work more taxing by reason of the rough country 
 through which the road extended. Gardwell had 
 handled these men for years with consummate skill, 
 meeting committee after committee, and being lav- 
 
242 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 ish with promises. But the time was fast approach- 
 ing when promises would no longer avail. To 
 advance the wages at this juncture was not to be 
 thought of, as it would so increase the expenditure 
 that the receivers would not be able to make the 
 showing which they hoped. On the other hand, 
 a strike would be a costly thing. The receivers 
 were at that time unprepared to meet one, and 
 were not in shape to place men in the positions 
 which it would make vacant. 
 
 While Gardwell knew that he guided the judge 
 with a firm rein, so far as the path marked out by 
 him was concerned, he had strong doubts as to 
 what the judge might do in case he came to deal 
 directly with the employees, whose demand for 
 higher wages might strike the judge as being rea- 
 sonable. 
 
 He talked the matter over with Skeener and 
 Bass on several occasions, but they were unable to 
 reach any satisfactory solution of the difficulty 
 until suddenly, at the last consultation, Gardwell 
 jumped up, and, snapping his fingers, exclaimed : 
 
 "Gentlemen, I have it! I have it! " 
 
 "Have what?" inquired Skeener, with a laugh. 
 "I wouldn't be surprised if you said you had the 
 earth." 
 
 "No, it wouldn't be surprising if I claimed it," 
 replied Gardwell, laughing. "But it was you 
 who taught me to claim everything. I learned 
 that campaigning with you. But here is an idea 
 of mine, and I will put it into execution." Gard- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 243 
 
 well briefly outlined his plan, and his associates, 
 though not over-confident of its success, agreed to 
 put it to the test. 
 
 That evening when Gardwell called upon Judge 
 Dunn, he adroitly led the conversation on to rail- 
 road matters. 
 
 "There is one thing that causes me considerable 
 grief and annoyance," he said, "and that is the 
 fact that discontent and dissensions are being 
 aroused among our men. I have always prided 
 myself on the fact that we have never been subject 
 to labor troubles. I have grown to look upon our 
 great army of employees almost as members of my 
 family." 
 
 "Yes," the judge assented, "I have noticed in 
 the papers that there seemed to be some discontent 
 among the men, and I intended to ask you about it. 
 Are they not receiving sufficient wages? " 
 
 "They are getting the same wages that they 
 have for the last five years, and until now there 
 has been no complaint," said Gardwell. "I will 
 be frank with you. I have information that leads 
 me to believe that the agents of the Trine fac- 
 tion have men at work at various points on our 
 line, stirring up the more hotheaded of our men 
 to open rebellion. It is not the fault of the men 
 themselves, but they afe influenced and led astray 
 by these agents of the capitalists." 
 
 "Why, this is simply infamous," put in the 
 judge hotly. "I think it is a matter which I 
 should inquire into at once." 
 
244 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "And yet I hardly see how you can reach it," 
 said Gardwell. "It is a matter which the receiv- 
 ers will have to handle and report upon to you for 
 instructions. If it were not for these outside in- 
 fluences, I have no doubt but I would get along 
 with the men as well as I always have. As it is, 
 matters are somewhat complicated, and I may be 
 compelled to call upon you." 
 
 "Do so at once," advised the judge, "and I will 
 render you any assistance in my power. It is ter- 
 rible to contemplate the depth to which men will 
 sink in their chase for money. What can be more 
 infamous? If what you tell me is true, here are 
 men who, for the sake of getting their hands on 
 something that does not belong to them, and add- 
 ing millions of wealth to their already accumulated 
 millions, are willing to plunge thousands of toiling 
 men into a struggle which will inevitably bring 
 their families to suffering and perhaps destitution. 
 I tell you, Mr. Gardwell, it is infamous, and I 
 believe the time is not far distant when men of 
 that stripe, men who attempt to arouse dissension 
 in our country, will be compelled to bend to laws 
 which shall be passed to govern them. Class leg- 
 islation is needed to control them and to govern 
 corporations." 
 
 "Yes," Gardwell admitted, "the farther I get 
 into this, the more clearly I see that you were right 
 in your positions when we have argued these mat- 
 ters from time to time before." 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 IN spite of all of Gardwell's efforts, matters 
 were drawing nearer and nearer to a crisis. That 
 crisis came when the union leaders sent an ultima- 
 tum to the receivers, notifying them that in case 
 wages were not raised by a certain time, every 
 man on the line would be called out on a strike. 
 Bass, Skeener and Gardwell had held many con- 
 sultations, and when they met to consider this ulti- 
 matum the crisis was past. 
 
 "Gentlemen," said Gardwell quietly, "let us 
 get down to business at once. There will be no 
 strike." 
 
 "What!" exclaimed Bass, "do you mean to 
 accede to these demands? Why, it means ruin; 
 I will never consent to it." 
 
 "I did not say that," replied Gardwell. "I 
 simply said that there would be no strike, and 
 there will not, at least, not until we are ready to 
 meet one." 
 
 "And pray, how do you mean to perform this 
 miracle? " asked Bass, with something like a sneer. 
 
 "By injunction," said Gardwell quietly. "I 
 mean," he continued, rising and beginning to walk 
 back and forth, "that we will secure an order from 
 the court enjoining the men from striking or quit- 
 
246 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 ting the employ of the road. Further than that, 
 I will make it more sweeping, and enjoin the lead- 
 ers from influencing our men or advising them to 
 quit. Cannot a court enjoin a person from com- 
 mitting an act which will entail great loss to prop- 
 erty? And will not this strike entail great loss to 
 our company, to the stockholders, the bondholders, 
 and every one interested in it? " 
 
 " It is a new proposition," answered Skeener, 
 "and I doubt very much if it will hold." 
 
 "It will hold long enough to suit our purposes," 
 interrupted Gardwell, snapping his fingers as he 
 paced up and down the floor. "A delay of thirty 
 days will place us in a position where we can meet 
 this strike in a way in which we cannot face it 
 now." 
 
 "But will the judge issue such an injunction?" 
 inquired Bass. "Will he dare to do it?" 
 
 "Judge Dunn dares to do anything which he 
 thinks is right," replied Gardwell. "Leave the 
 matter to me as you did on the original receiver- 
 ship, and I think I can assure you that the injunc- 
 tion will be granted. When can we draw the 
 papers?" he asked, turning to Skeener. 
 
 "To-morrow; we will get together to-morrow, 
 and you can outline what you want." 
 
 "Very well," said Gardwell, "we will draw the 
 order, as well as the petition." 
 
 That evening Gardwell spent two hours with 
 the judge in the butterfly study, discussing a the- 
 ory recently advanced by a German entomologist. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 247 
 
 Just as he was leaving, he took occasion to say 
 that the discontent among the men was growing 
 serious, and that in his opinion a strike should be 
 prevented at all hazards. 
 
 "By all means," cried the judge. "By all 
 means. There must not be a strike, and there 
 shall be none if I can prevent it." 
 
 " I think the best way will be to throw the mat- 
 ter into your hands if the worst comes," said Gard- 
 well. "At any rate, I will report to you oft' and 
 on. I do not anticipate any trouble for a week 
 or so; still, 'there is no telling what may happen. 
 Trine 's people are hard at work, and they are 
 bound to cripple us if they can, by fair means or 
 foul." 
 
 The following afternoon Gardwell, Bass and 
 Skeener went over the papers which had been 
 drawn by the latter. 
 
 "This is a very sweeping clause," said Skeener, 
 shaking his head, "but I will leave it in if you 
 insist on it, Mr. Gardwell." 
 
 "Kead it again," said Gardwell. Skeener read 
 as follows : 
 
 " ' It is strictly charged and commanded that you 
 do absolutely refrain from combining and conspir- 
 ing to quit, with or without notice, the service of 
 the road, and from interfering with the agents or 
 employees of the receivers in any manner, by act- 
 ual violence, intimidation, or otherwise. ' ' 
 
 Gar dwell' s face was set during the reading, and 
 the ridge extended from his nose up through the 
 
248 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 centre of his forehead. When the reading was 
 finished there was silence for a few moments, which 
 he was the first to break. 
 
 "Yes, let it go. It must be something sweeping 
 in order to impress the men with the fact that they 
 cannot quit. It may not stand eventually, but it 
 will tide us over, and this is a time when we have 
 got to pull through or be lost." 
 
 "Gardwell," said Skeener as they were breaking 
 up for the evening, " I want to ask you one ques- 
 tion. I believe you told me that Judge Dunn was 
 a good lawyer." 
 
 "Well, he is," decisively. 
 
 "Then let me ask you how you can think for 
 a moment that he will issue this injunction." 
 
 "You will see to-morrow," replied Gardwell. 
 "Meet me here at four o'clock sharp." 
 
 That evening Gardwell made himself conspicu- 
 ous at the club, and did not make his usual call 
 at the Dunn residence. 
 
 He was at his desk bright and early the next 
 morning, and had hardly seated himself before 
 telegrams began pouring in. He answered them 
 as fast as they came, and the company's wires were 
 kept hot carrying the messages back and forth. 
 There were alarming reports. The men were 
 about to strike. The order to quit was about to 
 be issued. It was a diplomatic battle for time, 
 and at three o'clock in the afternoon Gardwell had 
 received a final telegram, notifying him that unless 
 the company acceded to the terms of the men, 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 249 
 
 every man on the line would be called out the next 
 morning. 
 
 " We are now ready, gentlemen, to go into court 
 and get that injunction," said Gardwell, at four 
 o'clock, addressing his associates. "Let us go 
 and see Judge Dunn; but wait, he does not ad- 
 journ court until five o'clock, and five minutes 
 before five will be the proper time." 
 
 The interval was spent in conversation, a few 
 jokes were cracked, and Gardwell was in the best 
 of spirits. A few minutes before five o'clock he 
 reached for his hat and said, " Gentlemen, let us 
 be going." 
 
 The judge was alone in his chambers when the 
 three gentlemen entered. 
 
 "Your honor," began Gardwell, handing him 
 the telegram, "I have just received this message, 
 notifying me that the employees of the Trans- 
 American road, which is in the hands of your 
 court, are about to go out on a strike, crippling 
 the road and entailing a loss of thousands and 
 thousands of dollars." 
 
 "Well, well," exclaimed the judge, "this is too 
 bad! It is somewhat unexpected, is it not? Can- 
 not something be done?" 
 
 "The remedy is in your power," said Skeener, 
 advancing, "and I hold it here. It is a petition 
 for an injunction restraining the men from striking 
 until there can be an examination into the condi- 
 tion of affairs." 
 
 "There is no time to lose," pleaded Gardwell, 
 looking at his watch. 
 
250 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 The judge took the papers and began to scan 
 them over. 
 
 "Who drew these papers? " he asked. 
 
 "I did," replied Skeener, "and I can assure 
 you they are carefully drawn. I have also drawn 
 the order, you will notice." 
 
 "Have you looked these papers over carefully, 
 Mr. Gardwell?" continued the judge. 
 
 "Yes, your honor; and I have found them 
 strictly correct in every particular." 
 
 "Well," said the judge in a hesitating manner, 
 "perhaps I had better examine them to-night. I 
 may wish to alter the phraseology some, and I do 
 not like to be too hasty in a matter of this impor- 
 tance." 
 
 "Your honor," began Gardwell impressively, "it 
 will then be too late. This came upon us unex- 
 pectedly, and we have presented our petition at 
 the earliest possible moment. We implore you 
 to sign this order at once. I can assure you that 
 it is correct in every particular. I have never 
 asked a favor of this court before, but I deem it 
 imperative that this be signed at once." He spoke 
 earnestly and leaned forward, with his glittering 
 eyes fixed on the judge. Skeener and Bass also 
 joined in the plea. 
 
 Mechanically the judge reached for his pen and 
 signed the order. "I have implicit confidence in 
 you, Mr. Gardwell," he said, "or I should not 
 sign this now; however, I will take the petition 
 home with me to-night and look it over." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 251 
 
 With the order in their possession, Gardwell 
 and his associates hastened away. 
 
 The next day a thrill went over the land when 
 it was announced that Judge Tracy Dunn, of Mai- 
 ton, had issued an injunction from the federal 
 court restraining the men from quitting and from 
 advising and inciting others to quit the employ of 
 the Trans -American road. The injunction had its 
 effect, and not a man left his post. Yes; one 
 man, an engineer, way up on a siding, near Bil- 
 lings, Montana. 
 
 "The die is cast," shouted Gardwell, clapping 
 Bass on the back. "Judge Dunn is in too far to 
 retreat now, and before the long battle is decided 
 in the courts, we will be masters of the situation 
 and control the Trans -American. We have won 
 the good fight." 
 
 The next instant he grew pale, and, sinking into 
 a chair, buried his face in his hands, and began to 
 sob like a child. 
 
 "My God!" cried Bass, "what is the matter 
 with you, man ? " Gardwell looked up, and, laugh- 
 ing hysterically, exclaimed, "See! it's the Black 
 Witch ! Erebus odor a ! Magnificent ! " His 
 muscles began suddenly to relax, his eyelids gently 
 closed, and the next moment he was unconscious. 
 
 "It was a narrow escape," snarled Dr. Black to 
 Bass an hour later, "but I have been expecting it 
 for some time. I 've told him repeatedly that he 
 would break down if he kept up this strain, but 
 he has paid no heed to me. I 've seen them go 
 
252 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 before, and he will go the same way unless he 
 takes a rest." 
 
 "Well, there is nothing to hinder him from 
 taking a rest now," replied Bass, "but perhaps he 
 had better stick it out for a few days longer, and 
 I will keep him as quiet as possible." 
 
 "Very well," snapped Black, "but I will not be 
 responsible for the consequences." 
 
 "At any rate," said Bass, "this matter must be 
 kept very quiet." 
 
 "There is no danger of its leaking out through 
 me," replied Black, with some asperity. "I do 
 not belong to the school of physicians who tell 
 their professional secrets to their wives. But I 
 warn you that you cannot keep too close a watch 
 on him. There is no telling what may happen." 
 
 Away up on a lonely siding where the sage brush 
 grew close to the iron trail of the Trans-American, 
 a newspaper was thrown into the cab of an east- 
 bound engine. The fireman unrolled it and handed 
 it to the engineer, who was sitting in his cab. A 
 burly man was this engineer, with a close-cut 
 beard, keen blue eyes, and a massive frame. His 
 eyes kindled when he read the head-lines in the 
 paper: "Judge Dunn Acts! Issues an Injunction 
 Restraining the Employees of the Trans-American 
 from Striking." The blood came to his face as he 
 read on until, suddenly dashing the paper down, 
 he reached for his coat and with an oath ex- 
 claimed : 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 253 
 
 "The second time, by God! " 
 
 "What are you going to do, Tom?" cried the 
 fireman. 
 
 "Quit," replied the engineer. "Quit right 
 here," and with that he jumped from the steps of 
 his cab to the ground. The fireman glanced over 
 the paper and shook his head. 
 
 "I am sorry I cannot follow you, Tom," he said, 
 "but you don't catch me fooling with Uncle Sam." 
 
 "All right," returned the engineer, "I don't 
 ask you to follow me, and perhaps it 's best for 
 you to stay where you are, but I '11 obey no man 
 when he 's dead wrong, wrong as h 1 for the sec- 
 ond time, whether he is the federal judge or 
 no matter who he is." 
 
 The wires flashed the news that an engine had 
 been deserted, and by sundown the strong arm of 
 the United States government had reached for- 
 ward, and Tom Dunn was under arrest, charged 
 with contempt of court in having failed to comply 
 with the conditions of the injunction issued by the 
 judge of the federal bench. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE hue and cry that arose over the strike in- 
 junction soon made a clamor that was unpleasant 
 music to the ears of all who had been connected 
 with it, and the old judge awoke to the fact that 
 he had done something decidedly out of the ordi- 
 nary. The day after the issuance of that order he 
 had read the "Morning Watchman" and felt a 
 glow of pride in the perusal of a short editorial 
 commending him for his promptness and decision 
 in dealing with a lawless body of men who were 
 about to inflict great damage to property and im- 
 peril the welfare of the country. He did not see 
 Gardwell for several days, and he continued to 
 read the "Watchman " and the "Daily Day Book," 
 which puffed him in unmeasured terms for having 
 issued the injunction, for Gardwell had convalesced 
 sufficiently to enable him to send for Skeener and 
 instruct that gentleman in certain moves calculated 
 to get a good press support for the stand which 
 they had taken. In the meantime Bass was bend- 
 ing every energy toward reaping the advantage 
 which the relief from danger' of a strike afforded 
 him. Judge Dunn pursued the even tenor of his 
 way, and at the club was the recipient of many 
 warm congratulations from the -men of wealth who 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 255 
 
 were now his associates. But a rude awakening- 
 came. He chanced to pick up a Chiopolis paper 
 one evening, and glancing at the editorial page 
 saw that the leader was on the strike injunction. 
 It was from the pen of one of the most scathing 
 writers of the West, and from the first line to the 
 last it flayed the judge without mercy. 
 
 He tossed the paper aside impatiently. But he 
 could not thus easily dispose of his thoughts ; and 
 as the phrases which had annoyed him were one 
 by one recalled, he burned with indignation : " A 
 tool of corporations," "a man Friday for the 
 Money Power," "the enemy of the working-man," 
 and "an usurper of the sovereign rights of the 
 people." What a libel! And yet, he thought, 
 the language of the order was a little strong, per- 
 haps. He would read it over again. Perhaps he 
 should have read it himself before signing it. But 
 then he thought of the millions at stake and of the 
 irreparable loss that would have been caused by 
 a strike just at that time. No ; he had done the 
 right thing, and first of all it was his duty to pro- 
 tect the property of which he had made himself 
 guardian. Furthermore, the employees were an 
 ignorant rabble, urged on to destruction by schem- 
 ing millionaires on the one hand and frothing dem- 
 agogues on the other, men of the Emmersley 
 stamp. Elliot Gardwell was their friend, and he 
 had merely assisted him in protecting them from 
 their enemies. Besides, had he not been congratu- 
 lated on his stand by all the leading men of the 
 
256 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 city, men of the very highest standing? He re- 
 solved to stand by his colors, and in no way recede 
 from his position. But he longed to see Gard- 
 well. He was weary, that night, and slept but 
 little, being haunted by a vague fear of he knew 
 not what. 
 
 The recovery of Gardwell was as quick as his 
 prostration had been sudden. He was at Judge 
 Dunn's house early the morning after the judge 
 had been startled by the Chiopolis paper, and 
 Harriet thought that she had never seen him look- 
 ing so youthful and so handsome. He was in the 
 best of spirits, and greeted the judge with a boy- 
 ish exuberance which prompted him to remark : 
 
 "Why, Gardwell, I must congratulate you on 
 your sickness. I never saw you looking so well." 
 
 "I never felt better," replied Gardwell, "and 
 let me congratulate you on the widespread approval 
 that has been accorded your injunction. It is 
 hailed as a new discovery, a discovery that has 
 saved thousands of dollars' worth of property in 
 this instance, and would have saved untold mil- 
 lions and many lives if it had been discovered 
 before. It is a sure cure for strikes. It has 
 made you famous, and has met with the approval 
 of all the leading jurists of the country." 
 
 "You are a trifle too enthusiastic," interrupted 
 the judge. 
 
 "Not a bit of it," continued Gardwell. "Your 
 position will be sustained, and the ultimate result 
 will be to add stability to our whole industrial 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 257 
 
 system. Of course you will be assailed from vari- 
 ous sources, but the better element of the country 
 will be with you. Again allow me to congratulate 
 you. My only regret is that I cannot claim the 
 honor of having discovered you and aided in pla- 
 cing you on the bench. The time has come for 
 drastic measures in dealing with the laboring 
 classes, led as they are by dangerous demagogues 
 and anarchistic leaders. Where would the coun- 
 try be if it were not for capital, and if riot were 
 left to run loose in the land and dictate to employ- 
 ers what they should do with their money? A 
 strong man was needed by the country and he 
 came, just as Lincoln came, when he was needed. 
 The name of Judge Dunn will be remembered." 
 
 This was so unlike anything that the judge had 
 ever heard from Gardwell's lips, and Gard well's 
 manner was so different from what it always had 
 been in his presence, that the judge listened to it 
 all with varied emotions. At the conclusion, how- 
 ever, he took the hand that Gardwell extended 
 and said, with a pleased smile : 
 
 " Well, well, I hope you are right. But I be- 
 gan to think I had gone a little too far, perhaps. 
 But as you say property and the legitimate inter- 
 ests of capital must be protected if we are to have 
 peace and prosperity in this country." 
 
 So strong had grown the influence of Gardwell 
 that from that moment there were no further 
 doubts in the judge's mind, and, being thus reas- 
 sured of the rectitude and justice of his act, he 
 
258 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 easily lapsed again into the calm mood that was 
 habitual with him. 
 
 Gard well's high spirits as exhibited on this occa- 
 sion did not leave him. It was as if the man had 
 undergone a transformation, and his intimate asso- 
 ciates, Bass, Skeener, and the rest of them, mar- 
 veled greatly. His capacity for work seemed 
 unlimited, and he took up the complicated skein 
 of business manipulation where he had dropped it, 
 and proceeded to get it in order with incredible 
 rapidity. As receiver he had every detail of the 
 great system at his fingers' ends, and he made 
 daring moves for a golden harvest that was to fall 
 into the laps of himself and his companions. And 
 through it all he was light-hearted and gay to a 
 degree that shocked some of the staid clerks who 
 had been with him for years. 
 
 There were clouds gathering on the horizon ; but 
 when Skeener and Bass pointed them out, he re- 
 fused to see them, and laughed at their fears. 
 The popular feeling against the injunction was 
 growing, and a storm was fast approaching which 
 threatened before long to break over the heads of 
 Judge Dunn and the receivers. But Gard well 
 laughed. 
 
 One afternoon he closed his desk earlier than 
 usual, and went to the club. He took a light 
 lunch and washed it down with a bottle of wine. 
 He sat at the table for a long time, lost in thought. 
 Suddenly he snapped his fingers and, starting up, 
 exclaimed, "The time has come! " 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 259 
 
 He called a cab and, as he entered it, said to 
 the driver : 
 
 "Drive me out on the bay road as far as you 
 like, only get me to Judge Dunn's house at eight 
 o'clock. Here, let me pay you in advance." 
 And he handed the cabman a five-dollar bill. 
 
 Promptly at eight o'clock the cab stopped be- 
 fore Judge Dunn's house, and before the driver 
 could get down from his seat his passenger had 
 thrown back the door, sprung out, and was going 
 up the steps three at a time. A moment later he 
 was inside the house, and he and Harriet were 
 alone in the parlor. 
 
 In after years Harriet confessed that she had 
 no distinct recollection of anything that occurred 
 at this interview ; it was as if it were all a dream. 
 When the girl first looked at Gar dwell, she half 
 recoiled from him, but he sprang forward and 
 grasped her hands. His dark eyes blazed ; there 
 was a smile on his eager face, and he labored 
 under the highest nerve tension. Without a mo- 
 ment's hesitation or a word of introduction, Elliot 
 Gardwell poured out his love. The words came 
 swiftly from his lips, burning words, yet spoken 
 with indescribable tenderness mingled with a cer- 
 tain tone of authority. Harriet felt herself grow- 
 ing faint, and yet drawn to him by an irresistible 
 power. She heard the words, "Harriet, will you 
 be my wife? " and she knew that she answered 
 u Yes," and felt his arms around her. That was 
 all, and the next thing she realized was that she 
 
260 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 was standing with Elliot Gard well's arms around 
 her, her head resting on his breast, and tears were 
 falling from her eyes. He stroked her forehead 
 for a moment, and then led her to a sofa. As 
 she sank upon it, he stooped to kiss her forehead, 
 and murmured, " Good-night, my darling, my 
 wife! " and was gone. 
 
 Harriet staggered up to her room, and, throw- 
 ing herself on her couch, sobbed, "God forgive 
 me. What have I done?" But she knew she 
 had promised to be Elliot Gard well's wife. 
 
 Gardwell went directly to the club, where he 
 knew that the judge had an engagement at whist. 
 
 "Judge," he said, when the game was finished, 
 "I will walk home with you. I have something I 
 wish to say to you." 
 
 Gar dwell 's heart and mind were too' full to long 
 withhold what he had to say. Scarcely had the 
 two men emerged from the club, when he ex- 
 claimed: "Judge Dunn, you can make me the 
 most happy or the most miserable man in the 
 world. You can do it with one word." 
 
 "Gardwell, I would not make you the most 
 miserable man in the world for the world," replied 
 the judge, putting his arm through Gardwell' s. 
 
 "Judge Dunn, I want your daughter for my 
 wife. I ask your consent." 
 
 "My consent you may have with all my heart," 
 exclaimed the judge warmly, "but Harriet is the 
 one who " 
 
 "You have made me the happiest man in the 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 261 
 
 world," interrupted Gardwell; "I have Harriet's 
 answer already." 
 
 He grasped the judge's hand, and wrung it 
 heartily. 
 
 "Excuse me," he cried, "for bidding you good- 
 night so abruptly, but I am too happy to talk," 
 and he turned and dashed down the street. 
 
 "Humph!" ejaculated the judge. "It makes 
 'em all crazy. Even a man like Gardwell." 
 
 "My dear," said the judge, advancing to meet 
 Harriet as she came into the dining-room the next 
 morning, "you have my blessing. I saw Mr. 
 Gardwell last evening after he left you." 
 
 "Thank you, papa," replied Harriet. Then she 
 threw herself into his arms and began to sob. 
 
 "There, there," consoled the judge, with a sus- 
 picion of moisture in his eyes, "I am as happy 
 over it as you are, but I don't cry. Your mother 
 will be delighted when she hears of it. I will 
 write her at once," for Mrs. Dunn was at Bower- 
 ville, whither she had been called by the illness of 
 a sister. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THERE was a quickening in the current of events 
 from this time on, and they came so fast and 
 moved with such an irresistible precision that 
 Gardwell was unable to shape them to his ends. A 
 great change had come over him, a change that 
 caused his more intimate associates no little appre- 
 hension, and which they were unable to account 
 for. His light-heartedness and volubility were in 
 striking contrast with his former habits, both of 
 speech and deportment. He greeted his subordi- 
 nates with a familiarity that sent cold chills creep- 
 ing down their backs, and he developed a spirit of 
 liberality which made itself felt in a general raise 
 of salaries all around, and in contributions to 
 every applicant for charity, contributions that never 
 fell short of three figures. With Bass and Skeener 
 he adopted a good-natured air of easy superiority, 
 and he refused to seriously discuss the complica- 
 tions which they saw arising in connection with 
 the receivership and the strike injunction. New 
 schemes were in his mind, gigantic undertakings 
 which he spoke of carrying out as if they were 
 trifles as easy and certain of accomplishment as 
 the purchase of a Chicago alderman or a dead 
 butterfly. On several occasions he hinted to 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 263 
 
 Skeener and Bass that he had a great secret which 
 he would soon reveal to them. 
 
 "Oh, my friends," he said, "if you knew what 
 I do, you would feel as happy as I do. It will 
 settle everything, and my receivership will be for 
 life." 
 
 The great change in Gar d well's manner was 
 hardly as noticeable to the judge as to his business 
 associates, for he had never seen him excepting on 
 dress parade, before the footlights, as it were, 
 playing the part which he had chosen to act when 
 the judge or his family were in the audience. But 
 it was a change, nevertheless, and as such pleased 
 the old jurist as much as it displeased his associ- 
 ates. He never missed an evening, and so tender 
 and chivalric were his attentions to Harriet that 
 she could not be insensible to their force ; and had 
 not the poor young woman's heart still felt the 
 pull of the tendrils that Bob Emmersley's love 
 had attached to it in the old country home, there 
 is little doubt but she would have been as ardent 
 as he. As it was, she scarce knew her true feel- 
 ings. She thought him tender and kind and true, 
 and doubted not but he loved her devotedly ; and 
 what woman can be long cold to the homage of a 
 man whom she thus rates? Like a seed that is 
 planted in rich soil, warmed under a glass and 
 watered, whether the skies give down or not, until 
 it soon outstrips its hardy but older brother com- 
 pelled to buffet the storms which nature prepares 
 for all that lives, be it of the vegetable or the 
 
264 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 animal kingdom, so the seed of love began to grow 
 in her heart, warmed by the sunshine of Elliot 
 Gardwell's affection and nourished by the approval 
 of her father and mother, whom she dearly loved. 
 Like the dissolving views of the stereopticon, which 
 fade until the white canvas all but shows, while 
 another picture appears, her vision of Bob Em- 
 mersley grew fainter and fainter, and in its place 
 came the dark and handsome face of Gardwell, 
 with the strange light in the eyes which fascinated 
 and enthralled her. And there is small doubt but 
 that, after the first outburst of grief, she would 
 have thrown herself into the arms of Gardwell and 
 been happy all the days of her life. And if any 
 one has doubts of this, or feels a certain shame 
 for this young woman, he has but to consult any 
 work on human anatomy, where he may learn that 
 hearts are made the same, be they in widows or 
 maids, and heaven knows there are many that 
 were widows in whose eyes there have not been 
 tears for many a long season. 
 
 Gardwell was as romantic in his love as any 
 stripling that ever burned with the divine fire, and 
 it was one of his conceits to present Harriet with 
 a phonograph, in order that he might communicate 
 with her by voice, even if he were not with her. 
 
 "I have not written a letter for so long, my 
 dear," he said, "that to me it is a lost art. It is 
 not alone the words, but it is the voice that tells 
 the story of the heart. I could not write to you, 
 darling, but in case I were called away to the 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 265 
 
 East, I could sit in New York, and with your pic- 
 ture in my hand I could be with you and talk to 
 you. A few hours later you would receive the 
 cylinder and hear me, here." 
 
 "It is a very pretty idea," said Harriet, "and 
 you might occasionally send me word from the 
 office so that I can get used to it. But I hope 
 you will not be called away." 
 
 Gardwell availed himself of the permission, and 
 there was hardly a day that he did not send a 
 cylinder from his office by messenger, and Harriet 
 in several instances sent messages in the same 
 way, honest Rufus being the carrier. On one 
 occasion, when Rufus was admitted to Gard well's 
 private office, bearing one of these exceedingly 
 modern messages of Cupid, he found the senior 
 receiver of the Trans -American standing before 
 his phonograph and dictating into its funnel his 
 morning batch of correspondence. He turned his 
 head a moment, just long enough to say, "Glad 
 to see you, Rufus, I '11 be with you in a mo- 
 ment; take a chair," and went on with his dicta- 
 tion. Rufus did not sit down, however, but came 
 and stood by Gard well's side, alternately watch- 
 ing the buzzing machine and its operator, and 
 evidently mystified. He had met with a great 
 many new and strange things since his arrival in 
 Malton, but this, as he afterward expressed him- 
 self, was "a cracker- jack." The phrase, whatever 
 it might mean, was a recent addition to his vocabu- 
 lary, and he used it frequently. 
 
266 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "This is a new one to you, I take it," said 
 Gardwell, as he finished a letter and stopped the 
 machine. 
 
 "That 's what it is," replied Kufus; "what d' ye 
 call it?" 
 
 "A phonograph." 
 
 "Anything like a telegraph or 'phone? " 
 
 "Not exactly; though it 's a sort of second cou- 
 sin to both. You see," explained Gardwell, "I 
 talk into this funnel, and the sounds are recorded 
 on the little cylinder, which you saw revolving." 
 
 He released the cylinder as he spoke, and 
 handed it to Rufus. 
 
 "My eyes must be gettin' old," said Eufus, 
 turning the cylinder over and over in his hand as 
 he scrutinized it. " Blamed if I can see anything 
 but straight lines; hain't a word written on it, 
 's far as I can see." 
 
 "But the words are there just the same, and 
 you can hear them if you can't see them." 
 
 Gardwell again adjusted the cylinder to its 
 place, put the receiving tubes into Rufus's ears, 
 and set the machine going. Rufus quivered a 
 little and turned pale. There was evidently some- 
 thing "spooky " about the thing, and he was awed. 
 He recovered himself a moment later, however, 
 and his face took on a broad grin ; and as he took 
 the tubes from his ears, he pronounced it "a 
 cracker-jack." 
 
 " I ' ve seen a pile of strange things since we 
 came to Malton, Mr. Gardwell, but this beats 'em 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 267 
 
 all. One of them newspaper fellers bought me 
 a drink down to the hotel bar-room the other day, 
 and whilst I was talkin' to him 'bout the way we 
 did things up to Bowerville, he was makin' a lot 
 of hen-tracks on a little book; and when I asked 
 him what he was doing, he jest read it off to me, 
 and blamed if he didn't have every word set down 
 just as I said 'em. All on one page, too, and I '11 
 bet I talked fifteen minutes. Any rate, we had 
 two or three rounds; and I don't know how it is, 
 Mr. Gardwell, but the more drinks I take in, the 
 more fool talk I let out. Betsy says so, anyway, 
 and I guess she 's 'bout right. But the newspaper 
 feller said I was a good one, and he was going to 
 write me up in the Sunday paper." 
 
 Gardwell had meanwhile put a fresh cylinder 
 on the phonograph and turned the funnel towards 
 Rufus, so that that loquacious individual was all 
 unconsciously having his interesting "fool talk" 
 recorded. 
 
 "But this here machine," he went on, "beats 
 that feller's hen-tracks all to nothin'." 
 
 And so he talked on. When he had finished 
 talking, or rather when Gardwell interrupted him, 
 for, strictly speaking, it cannot be said that Rufus 
 ever finished talking, and he was more than usually 
 garrulous this morning, Gardwell again put the 
 receiving tubes in Rufus' ears, who, much .to his 
 delight, heard his long lingo repeated. 
 
 "Say! " he exclaimed, when he had reached the 
 end of the cylinder, "a feller's got to be mighty 
 
268 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 keerful what he says when one of them things is 
 in the room. It 's a cracker-jack, and no mis- 
 take." 
 
 Bass and Skeener came in as Rufus went out, 
 and Bass noted the familiarity of the adieus with 
 some displeasure. 
 
 "Gardwell," he blurted out, "you choose strange 
 companions of late. Who is your new friend? 
 The head of a cabbage syndicate?" 
 
 " He is a friend of mine, because he is the tried 
 and trusted friend of one who is much dearer to 
 me than any other friend," replied Gardwell, with 
 some of his old spirit. 
 
 "Take that, Brother Bass," cried Skeener, with 
 a laugh, for he noted with satisfaction the old 
 ring in Gar dwell' s voice. 
 
 "Gentlemen, I may as well tell you my secret 
 now, inasmuch as every one will know it very 
 soon. I am to be married." 
 
 "Thank God! " exclaimed Bass fervently. "Is 
 that what has been the matter with you? Allow 
 me to congratulate you," and he jumped up and 
 grasped Gardwell' s hands. 
 
 "Who is the charmer? " inquired Skeener. 
 
 "Miss Harriet Dunn." 
 
 "The daughter of Judge Dunn!" exclaimed 
 Bass, dropping Gardwell's hand and stepping back. 
 
 "Why, certainly," replied Gardwell. 
 
 "Gardwell," he cried, "you must not, you shall 
 not make this public now. It will ruin us." 
 
 "Then we are already ruined," replied Gard- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 269 
 
 well lightly. "I gave it to the press to-day. It 
 will be in the evening papers." 
 
 Bass sank into a chair and was speechless. 
 
 "This is certainly very impolitic," said Skeener, 
 pacing up and down the room. "It is already 
 more than hinted in certain quarters, yes, printed 
 in the public press, that Judge Dunn has acted at 
 your dictation. It is charged that you have had 
 undue influence over him, have had his ear out of 
 court as to what he should do in it, and this, in 
 the public mind, will corroborate all that has been 
 charged." 
 
 " What of it ! What do I care for the howling 
 of a pack of curs ? I get the sweetest woman in 
 the world for my wife." 
 
 "Yes," retorted Bass, with a groan, "and pay 
 the highest price ever paid for one in this country. 
 She will cost her weight in government bonds. 
 Let me be your best man at the wedding; I cer- 
 tainly pay enough for the privilege." 
 
 A telegram was brought in and given to Bass. 
 He tore open the envelope and read the dispatch. 
 
 "The blow has come," he cried, with a bitter 
 little laugh. "Congress has ordered a special in- 
 quiry into the strike injunction, and that Populist 
 congressman, Emmersley, is the chairman." 
 
 Gardwell staggered, and his face grew pale. 
 He rallied in an instant: "Children cry before 
 they are hurt, and cowards cringe at the approach 
 of danger, but men face it. I will meet you gen- 
 tlemen at ten o'clock to-morrow morning, and we 
 
270 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 can talk matters over. It amounts to very little. 
 I tell you now that Judge Dunn will never yield 
 an inch. Pardon me for not remaining, but I 
 have an engagement with Miss Dunn which I can- 
 not break. I would not disappoint her for the 
 world, let alone a railroad that traverses a very 
 small section of it." 
 
 He bowed, and, smiling pleasantly, left the 
 room. 
 
 "Skeener," said Bass, "our pilot is crazy as a 
 loon." 
 
 "Yes," was the reply, "as crazy as a loon in 
 springtime; for they also are then in love." 
 
 "It 's a bad mess, but this shock may bring him 
 back to his senses. We '11 see how he is to- 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 GARDWELL'S business mind, that cluster of brain 
 tissues that had worked night and day under high 
 pressure for years, had been dormant ever since 
 Harriet Dunn let escape from her lips the words 
 that bound her to become his wife. But while 
 this part of his brain remained inactive, whether 
 broken down or stopped from sheer exhaustion, 
 that other portion wherein lies the germ of love 
 and the bent that leads to gratification of the pas- 
 sions had had full sway, and governed his actions 
 with all the power of a dynamo that, having re- 
 ceived voltage for years, suddenly has all its 
 strength released. 
 
 The shock caused by the news of the new com- 
 plication, the congressional inquiry, with Robert 
 Emmersley as chairman of the committee, had 
 reached the dormant section of his mind, and 
 slowly it responded to the summons. He had 
 scarcely gone two blocks from his office when he 
 began to grow dimly conscious of the import of 
 what he had just heard. Suddenly it flashed upon 
 him with full force. The dormant cells were again 
 alive. He grew faint, and a mist came before his 
 eyes, so that for an instant he staggered. With 
 a great effort he pulled himself together, and went 
 
272 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 directly to the club. He sought out a quiet corner 
 in the reading-room, and sank into a chair. 
 
 "I have blundered," he thought; "yes, I have 
 been weak." 
 
 Quickly in his mind he went over the situation. 
 Emmersley, he doubted not, was still in love with 
 Harriet, and he knew that he was a man who 
 would never give up hope until the last ditch was 
 reached. But the announcement of her engage- 
 ment would mean the last ditch to the young con- 
 gressman, and with his heart filled with hatred 
 and disappointment, all hope crushed out, what 
 chance was there of reaching him ? But put Hope 
 in the young enemy's heart, and what might she 
 not whisper to him? His resolution was formed 
 in an instant, and soon acted upon. He sent a 
 note to the editor of the morning paper calling 
 attention to the engagement announcement in the 
 "Evening Day Book," and in a tone of indigna- 
 tion denounced it as wholly unauthorized. An- 
 other note he wrote to the editor of the "Day 
 Book," demanding a retraction, and expressing 
 surprise that a paper of its standing should be 
 guilty of printing such an announcement without 
 having first secured authority from him for so 
 doing. It is perhaps needless to incidentally re- 
 cord the fact that these epistles were effective to 
 the fullest extent of Gardwell's desire; and the 
 fact that the reporter to whom he had personally 
 given the original announcement was summarily 
 discharged for having the hardihood to maintain 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 273 
 
 that Gardwell himself had authorized the item, 
 was an incident so trivial that it gave him no con- 
 cern further than to issue orders that the unfortu- 
 nate young man should under no circumstances 
 be admitted to his office. 
 
 Gardwell was thoroughly awake to the danger 
 that confronted him and which menaced the judge 
 as well. For the first time he now recognized the 
 popular feeling that had sprung up against the 
 judge and the receivers for what, he knew, was 
 regarded as a daring usurpation of power. He 
 resolved, at all hazards, to secure from the con- 
 gressional committee a favorable report, or at least 
 one that was not denunciatory, although in his 
 heart he felt that such an one was well deserved. 
 
 "The poor old judge," he murmured. "And 
 yet, if it were not for Harriet I could step aside 
 and let the blow fall on him alone, since receivers 
 act merely as agents of the court." 
 
 What a scowling villain he was as he sat there, 
 tempted to desert this latest victim of the black 
 art which he practiced. 
 
 "No!" he muttered; "I must stand by him. 
 But this will make him stanch. He will never 
 yield an inch now. I must break the news to 
 him, though it will be a great shock." 
 
 Arrived at the judge's house, he encountered 
 the judge, who was just about hastening down 
 town. Gardwell saw at a glance that he was 
 greatly agitated, more so than he had ever seen 
 him before. 
 
274 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Oh, Gardwell," he exclaimed, "you are the 
 very man I wanted to see ! I have just been inter- 
 viewed by a reporter, who tells me that Congress 
 has ordered an investigation. It is a plot to be- 
 smirch me, and that scoundrel Emmersley is at 
 the bottom of it. Do you know anything about 
 it?" 
 
 "Nothing m6re than the fact that some sort of 
 a committee has been appointed to come here and 
 pretend to make an investigation into the cause 
 leading up to the issuance of your injunction re- 
 straining the employees of the Trans-American 
 from ruining the property now in the hands of the 
 court," was Gardwell's formal answer. 
 
 "I want no pretended inquiry," cried the judge 
 fiercely. "Let them investigate me. I want a 
 thorough investigation, and they will find that I 
 have been entirely free from any outside influ- 
 ences. You know that, Gardwell." 
 
 "Certainly," replied Gardwell. "But don't get 
 excited. Don't let it annoy you. It is true that 
 the injunction, falsely presented to the people, 
 has raised quite a storm, but the better element 
 stands solidly at your back. Labor agitators and 
 demagogues are quick to take advantage of such 
 conditions, and to strike hard when the public 
 mind is inflamed. The conservative element of 
 Congress is with us in this matter, as I know from 
 Washington advices, but something had to be 
 done to appease the popular clamor." 
 
 "But why should I be singled out?" demanded 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 275 
 
 the old judge. "You know that I have always 
 maintained the rights of the laboring classes 
 until," he added, "they overstepped the bounds of 
 reason." 
 
 "Very true," assented Gardwell. "Extraordi- 
 nary conditions require decisive action. A fireman 
 may ruin a valuable oil painting or destroy a 
 French plate mirror, but he must put out the fire. 
 On the surface an injunction restraining our men 
 from quitting work may seem somewhat radical, 
 and under the circumstances this may have been 
 true. But the conditions amply warranted it, and 
 it was necessary in order to prevent great loss of 
 life and property." 
 
 "Undoubtedly," said the judge, "and it was 
 never intended to restrain them from eventually 
 quitting if they saw fit. Was not that the case? " 
 
 "It has been construed as binding until such 
 time as it may be modified by you," replied Gard- 
 well. 
 
 "What!" cried the judge. "Do you mean to 
 say that these men are now bound not to peaceably 
 resign their positions as individuals? Why, that 
 is beyond reason. The Constitution guarantees to 
 every man the right " 
 
 "It guarantees no man the right to destroy and 
 render valueless the property of another," inter- 
 rupted Gardwell. 
 
 "But," hotly rejoined the judge, "no tribunal 
 has the right to tell me that I must remain in the 
 service of another against my will. I do not 
 
276 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 maintain any such stand, and if it is so understood 
 I am grossly misrepresented." 
 
 "You read the petition and the order, did you 
 not?" asked Gardwell calmly. 
 
 The judge winced. 
 
 "Mr. Gardwell," he said, after a short pause, 
 "I reposed a great deal of confidence in you and 
 Mr. Skeener." 
 
 "It has not been misplaced," observed Gardwell. 
 "Mr. Skeener, than whom there is no better con- 
 stitutional lawyer, says your position in the injunc- 
 tion is well taken." 
 
 " But this cannot be maintained for an indefinite 
 period. There must be an end to it some time." 
 
 "Certainly," replied Gardwell soothingly, "but 
 not until the danger is past. You would not have 
 the great property in your hands destroyed, would 
 you?" 
 
 "Of course not," answered the judge emphati- 
 cally. "Property interests must be protected." 
 
 "There you are," cried Gardwell -cheerfully, 
 " and there is where the leading men of the coun- 
 try are with you. In protecting property you are 
 protecting invested capital, and shielding labor 
 from the greatest harm that can come to it. In 
 this matter you stand as the friend of all the par- 
 ties interested." 
 
 " But I have no right to deprive these working- 
 men, these citizens, of their constitutional rights," 
 persisted the judge. 
 
 "Pshaw!" exclaimed Gardwell. "The Consti- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 277 
 
 tution is not of divine origin. It was written to 
 meet conditions as they existed; the men who 
 wrote it were not prophets." 
 
 "I hold the Constitution sacred, and any one 
 who intentionally " 
 
 "Excuse me," interrupted Gardwell. "The 
 Constitution does not guarantee to any man or set 
 of men the right to destroy the property of others. 
 You agree with me, do you not, that property 
 must be protected?" 
 
 " By all means. Without such protection there 
 can be no stability." 
 
 " And without such protection to property there 
 would be anarchy," solemnly declared Gardwell. 
 " History will accord to you the credit that an ig- 
 norant and excited public now withholds." 
 
 The judge was pleased at this, and the two men 
 walked in silence for a few moments. The judge 
 was the first to speak. 
 
 "Would it not be well," he said, "to modify 
 that injunction now?" 
 
 "It would be construed as running under fire," 
 answered Gardwell. "I feel confident so far as 
 the law goes. Do you feel that your stand is 
 right?" 
 
 "Property must be protected at all hazards," 
 said the judge emphatically; "I certainly am 
 right." 
 
 "Yes," exclaimed Gardwell; "and if you, a poor 
 man, wholly without prejudice in favor of the rich, 
 and untouched by any outside influences, personal 
 
278 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 or otherwise, can feel that way, what doubt can 
 there be of its correctness? But it is useless for 
 us to discuss a matter in which I fully agree with 
 you. There is another subject on which I should 
 like to speak, and I ask you to hear me through 
 before replying." 
 
 "Go ahead, I promise," said the judge, now 
 somewhat composed in mind. 
 
 Briefly, but with great tact and delicacy of touch, 
 Gardwell explained to the judge the conditions 
 which made it necessary that the engagement of 
 himself and Harriet should be denied. The judge 
 restrained himself with great difficulty, and was 
 on the point of bursting out several times, but he 
 kept his promise, and Gardwell was enabled to 
 answer the indignant questions that came into the 
 judge's mind, and to show why, under the circum- 
 stances, discretion was the better part of valor, 
 and would protect Harriet from much gossipy 
 scandal which could not fail of prejudicing the 
 case of the judge in the eyes of the public. 
 
 When he had finished, the judge said : 
 
 "Mr. Gardwell, this business goes against my 
 grain. I am a plain, blunt man, and fear to look 
 no man in the eye. You have honorably won the 
 hand of my daughter, and have also gained her 
 love"- 
 
 " Thank God! " said Gardwell, with emotion. 
 
 "I am willing to take you by the hand, and let 
 the world know that we are friends," continued 
 the judge, not noticing the exclamation. "Why, 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 279 
 
 the next thing these scoundrels will be charging 
 that you have influenced me in the matter of the 
 receivership and the injunction." 
 
 "That is not at all improbable," said Gardwell. 
 "They will say you got nothing less than a mil- 
 lion," he added, with a laugh, in which the judge 
 joined. 
 
 But the judge's laugh came to a sudden stop. 
 The thought of the "orphans' fund" and the 
 thirty thousand dollars, of which Van Tipple had 
 told him, flashed into his mind. 
 
 "We have nothing to fear," said Gardwell. 
 "Let this rump committee, with its callow dema- 
 gogue head, come, and we will meet them face to 
 face. The right will.prevail. " 
 
 "Nothing at all to fear," repeated the judge; 
 "the right always prevails." 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE country was astir over the congressional 
 inquiry which was to take place, and many and 
 varied were the predictions as to its outcome. 
 The judge was devoid of neither champions nor 
 assailants who espoused his cause or attacked his 
 position, as the case might be. On the one side, 
 he was pictured as the sturdy country judge who 
 had risen to the federal bench by merit of his 
 judicial integrity, while on the other he was de- 
 scribed as the weak tool of the corporations, seek- 
 ing to enslave the working classes by usurping the 
 powers of the general government in the interest 
 of the rich. 
 
 The inquiry lasted for three days, and was as 
 thorough and searching as the efforts of the young 
 chairman could make it. Before the second day's 
 session was over it was clear to Gar d well's mind 
 that Emmersley was following a line of investiga- 
 tion which was based on the assumption that the 
 judge had been made a tool of by himself and his 
 associates. Some of the questions of the young 
 congressman struck so close to facts which he sup- 
 posed that he alone had knowledge of, that it 
 astonished as well as alarmed him. The young 
 country lawyer knew somewhat of the hypnotic 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 281 
 
 force of environment; the power of passes made 
 by the hand of small favors and constant attention 
 were understood by him ; and in his clear blue eyes 
 Gardwell read the accusation, " Thou art the man ! " 
 
 In consultation with Bass and Skeener on the 
 evening of the second day, Gardwell made known 
 his conclusions. 
 
 "Brainerd is with us," he said, referring to one 
 of the congressmen on the committee, "but Sturgis 
 is controlled absolutely by Emmersley, who has 
 made up his mind to prepare a report that will 
 flay the judge and lash our backs." 
 
 "Can't we convince Sturgis?" asked Bass, with 
 a significant look. 
 
 "Where one man has absolute control of an- 
 other," replied Gardwell, "it is useless to attempt 
 to get at him in a day. A week, a month, or a 
 year, and it might be otherwise. Emmersley is 
 the only one to reach, and I alone can have any 
 hope of connecting with him. There is a chance, 
 but a slight one. He hates me more than he does 
 any other man on earth." 
 
 "Why, Gardwell," said Skeener, "I thought you 
 made it a point not to have any personal enemies." 
 
 "There are some differences which can never be 
 bridged." 
 
 "Oh, ho; so the wind blows from that quarter. 
 We are indeed in a bad way if there is a woman 
 in the case." 
 
 An ugly look came into Gardwell's face, but it 
 passed away as he replied : 
 
282 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Delilah cut the locks of Samson, but there 
 was nothing in the act that a better woman could 
 not have done without being sullied. Our weak- 
 ness may prove to be our strength," and picking 
 up his hat he quitted the room without further 
 words. 
 
 "He always has a trump left," remarked Skeener 
 in admiration. 
 
 "Yes," said Bass; "but there are only fifty-two 
 cards in the pack, and Gardwell has been playing 
 a long time. A bold game makes a great show, 
 but it doesn't always win the chips." 
 
 "By the way," said Skeener suddenly, "Tusher 
 told me a curious thing last evening. He says 
 that Gardwell supported Emmersley on the quiet, 
 and really elected him to Congress. I paid little 
 attention to it, he talks a great deal without 
 saying much, you know, but what struck me as 
 curious was the fact, as Tusher asserts, that Em- 
 mersley does not know that Gardwell elected him." 
 
 "Why not have Tusher let him know?" sug- 
 gested Bass. "It might be a good move to make." 
 
 "It is dangerous to interfere with Gardwell's 
 plans," objected Skeener dubiously. 
 
 " Skeener," said Bass, lowering his voice, " Gard- 
 well is not the man he used to be. Possibly he 
 has forgotten it. By to-morrow it will be too 
 late. Have you noticed the change in him? " 
 
 "Yes," replied Skeener, "I have." 
 
 It was finally agreed between the two men that 
 Tusher should at once be instructed to take means 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 283 
 
 for letting the proud young congressman know to 
 whom he was really indebted for his seat in Con- 
 gress. It did not take long to find Tusher in the 
 lobby of the Vista hotel : it was in the hotel lobby 
 that Tusher was especially a "prominent" politi- 
 cian. Half an hour later the genial chairman and 
 Congressman Emmersley were seated on the same 
 sofa in the big rotunda. 
 
 Tusher led the conversation up to Gardwell by 
 slow degrees, and sounded his praises with a fervor 
 born of awe and admiration. When he felt that 
 he had reached the proper point, he said : 
 
 "As chairman of the State Central Committee, 
 I hold many secrets, and one of them would greatly 
 interest you just at present." 
 
 "Possibly," observed Emmersley dryly; "but 
 never tell campaign secrets. It 's bad politics." 
 
 "I know it," continued Tusher, "but in this 
 instance I deem it my duty to acquaint you with 
 certain facts. To be blunt about it, you owed 
 your election to Elliot Gardwell." 
 
 Emmersley 's first impulse was to burst forth in 
 righteous indignation at this clumsy attempt to 
 influence his future action in the investigation, 
 but he curbed his passion and, after a moment's 
 pause, replied in a calm voice : 
 
 "Mr. Tusher, you surprise me. Really, I had 
 no idea that I was one of the great army of office- 
 holders who live by grace of Elliot Gardwell." 
 
 "It 's as true as I 'm sitting here," said Tusher, 
 "and you are not the only one that is in the same 
 
284 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 boat, either. No; nor the only one connected 
 with this investigation," he shrewdly added. 
 
 "The judge," thought Emmersley. "You in- 
 terest me greatly," he said. "But let us adjourn 
 to one of the rooms in the cafe; I feel thirsty 
 myself." 
 
 Emmersley knew that Tusher talked with greater 
 fluency and less care for future consequences when 
 a cold quart was on the table. 
 
 Tusher was in high spirits over the evident im- 
 pression that he was making in Gard well's favor, 
 and when he had swallowed a glass of wine he 
 continued his story. Emmersley, by judicious 
 questioning, led him on, and little by little he 
 learned the full particulars of Gardwell's instruc- 
 tions to Tusher, and heard with inward shame and 
 rage that he had profited by the expenditure of 
 some of Gardwell's money, for Tusher had learned 
 that fact after the campaign was over. 
 
 Tusher drank freely, and talked with increasing 
 freedom. 
 
 "Gardwell is a wonderful man," he declared. 
 "He's the best-hearted fellow in the world, and 
 he hates to let the people for whom he does big 
 favors know anything about it." 
 
 "Yes, there 's Judge Dunn, for instance," re- 
 turned Emmersley. 
 
 "What are you giving me?" cried Tusher, sud- 
 denly becoming suspicious. 
 
 "Oh, I know a few things," said Emmersley 
 carelessly: "the midnight trip, for instance." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 285 
 
 Tusher started, stared for a moment into Ein- 
 mersley's face, and then burst into a laugh. 
 
 "You are all right, congressman," he finally 
 said. "But how in thunder did you find that 
 out ? I never told a soul. Gardwell almost put 
 me under oath never to breathe a word of it." 
 
 Emmersley did not venture to reply ; and Tusher, 
 after drinking another glass of wine, grew reminis- 
 cent, and went over the details of the whole busi- 
 ness: his trip, the interview with the judge, and 
 his report to Gardwell. Emmersley heard it with 
 no little surprise and pleasure. He had all along 
 supposed that it was Gardwell who had visited the 
 judge, and who went clattering away in the dark- 
 ness as Ruf us had put it, " like a drunken farmer 
 going home from a county fair." It was a relief 
 to know that the judge, after all, was not what he 
 had taken him to be, a willing slave who had sold 
 himself for a seat on the federal bench. 
 
 "And the judge doesn't know now how he 
 came to be selected? " queried Emmersley, half to 
 himself. 
 
 "Of course not," said Tusher; "Gardwell never 
 tells those things. By the way, it 's mighty 
 strange he told you," and Tusher looked at the 
 congressman in a half -frightened way. 
 
 "I never said he did," replied Emmersley, 
 speaking in a different tone from that which he 
 had used during the conversation. Tusher 's flushed 
 face turned to a pinkish gray. 
 
 "Mr. Tusher," he continued, "you will excuse 
 
286 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 me if I speak my mind frankly. You are a faith- 
 ful servant, but not a shrewd one. Your master, 
 too, has grown clumsy ; he needs sharp tools, not 
 dull ones, to cut his way through me." 
 
 He rose from the table, for his passion was 
 getting the better of him, for all he could do to 
 repress it, and, shaking his long forefinger in 
 Tusher's face, he spoke in deliberate and earnest 
 tones : 
 
 "Tell Elliot Gardwell that I loathe and despise 
 him, and had I known to whom I was indebted I 
 would never have taken my seat in Congress. 
 Tell him that I am his enemy, and that balancing 
 a seat in Congress against a life, we are quits. 
 Tell him "- 
 
 "For God's sake ! " cried Tusher, aghast, "don't 
 talk so loud. He did not send me to you. I 
 swear it! If he learns of this, I am ruined." 
 
 Emmersley felt a sudden pity for the fellow. 
 
 "Tusher," he said, "I will never say a word 
 about this to any man on earth. There 's my hand 
 on it. I don't blame you." 
 
 Tusher grasped the extended hand, and would 
 have clung to it, but Emmersley wrenched it from 
 him, and strode away. 
 
 While Tusher was glibly telling to Emmersley 
 that which Gardwell would have concealed as fatal 
 to his cause, and which, after all, was the very 
 best thing that could have happened for the judge, 
 Gardwell himself was in consultation with a person 
 who had hitherto taken only a passive part in the 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 287 
 
 events which shaped the lives of those about her. 
 It was to Mrs. Dunn that Gardwell went when he 
 left Bass and Skeener. This gentle woman, into 
 whose life had come a burst of sunshine with the 
 judge's promise that he would endeavor to obtain 
 some trace of her missing boy, was wholly subject 
 to that peculiar force of will which Gardwell ex- 
 ercised to a greater or less degree over all with 
 whom he came in contact. Extremely sensitive to 
 little acts of kindness and attention, she had grown 
 to look upon him with deep affection, and to repose 
 the most implicit faith in his judgment; and had 
 he told her that he would institute a search for her 
 boy, she would not for a moment have doubted 
 that erelong she would again press the lost one to 
 her heart. It had been her intention to appeal to 
 Gardwell in the matter, but she decided to wait 
 until he was a son to her in the eyes of the law, 
 and she devoutly hoped for an early fulfillment of 
 his engagement with Harriet. The published de- 
 nial of that engagement was at first a disappoint- 
 ment to her, but she acquiesced readily enough 
 when told that it was the wish of Gardwell, for 
 she believed that whatever he thought and did was 
 for the best. 
 
 He found her alone that night. The judge 
 and Harriet had gone for a drive in his carriage, 
 which he had taken the precaution to send to the 
 house, with a message pleading a business engage- 
 ment for himself. After the first flutter, she lis- 
 tened calmly to what he told her, and exhibited 
 
288 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 all that strength which the weak often show in the 
 presence of real or imaginary danger. Gardwell 
 knew the power of frankness, and he did not hesi- 
 tate to point out to her the existing conditions. 
 Emmersley, he declared, was insanely jealous of 
 him, and believed that the judge had been impli- 
 cated in a conspiracy with him and his associates, 
 and had been the willing tool to further their ends. 
 This was not true, he said, and the one person 
 who could so inform the fiery yqung congressman 
 was Harriet. She, as a loyal daughter, with per- 
 fect propriety, could ask that justice be done her 
 father, and she, above all, was the one person 
 whose word would carry weight with the misguided 
 youth who now wielded so much power. 
 
 "I care nothing for myself," declared Gardwell, 
 "and you must realize what a sacrifice I make in 
 allowing her even to speak to him. But I am 
 determined that the judge shall not fall a victim 
 to his unreasoning hatred, of which, after all, I 
 am the cause, in having won Harriet's hand." 
 
 "Poor Tracy!" moaned Mrs. Dunn, almost 
 bursting into tears. "It would break his heart to 
 be so wrongfully accused. And yet I know he 
 will never consent to Harriet's going to see Em- 
 mersley." 
 
 "He is to know nothing about it," replied Gard- 
 well so decisively that Mrs. Dunn's feelings of 
 wifely duty were swept aside in an instant. "It 
 rests with us to save him, and we can do it if we 
 act at once. He is powerless in the matter. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 289 
 
 There is only one way out of it, and that is to tell 
 Harriet all that I have told you, and point out to 
 her that she alone can save her father from a most 
 cruel and unjust accusation. There is no time to 
 lose. They will be back before eight o'clock, and 
 at nine my carriage will be waiting on the corner. 
 A few words from her will do more than all the 
 appeals and prayers that could be mustered. The 
 carriage will drive her to the east entrance of the 
 hotel, and from the ladies' waiting-room she can 
 send her card to Emmersley. He will come at 
 once. You will accompany her, but remain in 
 the carriage." 
 
 The strain of old Puritan stock was making 
 itself felt in Mrs. Dunn, and it was with perfect 
 calmness that she bade Gardwell good-night at the 
 door. 
 
 "Remember," he said, "the carriage will be on 
 the corner at nine o'clock." 
 
 "At nine o'clock," she replied, "Harriet and I 
 will be there." 
 
 When the judge and Harriet returned from 
 their drive, the judge, as was his usual custom, 
 retired to his study. Harriet went directly to her 
 room. She had scarcely removed her wraps when 
 there was a tap on the door, and her mother 
 entered. 
 
 "Why, what is the matter, mamma?" cried the 
 girl. "You look as though something dreadful 
 had happened." 
 
 "Harriet," said Mrs. Dunn, "something dread- 
 
290 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 ful may happen, but if you and I do our duty it 
 may be averted." 
 
 Seating herself beside her daughter, and taking 
 one of Harriet's hands in her own, she repeated 
 all that Gardwell had told her. Harriet was 
 silent through it all, her face colorless and crim- 
 son by turns. 
 
 "We have no time to lose," concluded Mrs. 
 Dunn. "You have only to put on your coat and 
 hat to be ready." 
 
 Harriet arose, took two or three turns up and 
 down the room, and then, wheeling suddenly about, 
 dropped on her knees and buried her face in her 
 mother's lap. 
 
 "Oh, mamma," she sobbed, "how can I look 
 Bob in the face?" 
 
 "Bob!" exclaimed Mrs. Dunn sharply. "How 
 can you speak of him in that familiar way, Har- 
 riet? Mr. Emmersley has certainly proven him- 
 self unworthy of our respect, and now he would 
 ruin your father, simply because you have prom- 
 ised to be the wife of a man he dislikes, and who 
 is in every way his superior." 
 
 "It isn't true; it is false!" cried Harriet, 
 springing to her feet. "He hasn't done anything 
 that an honorable gentleman should blush for, and 
 I don't believe he would. It is Mr. Gardwell 
 who is the bad man. I know he is. He has got 
 poor papa under his thumb. He " 
 
 " Harriet ! Harriet ! " cried Mrs. Dunn, greatly 
 alarmed and shocked at this outburst, "remember 
 that you are his affianced wife." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 291 
 
 "Yes," cried the girl, pacing back and forth 
 and wringing her hands, "but why did I promise? 
 Why did I consent? I did not know what I was 
 doing; it was all so sudden and so strange; it 
 seems like a dream. It was his terrible eyes," 
 she cried, growing more and more agitated, her 
 lips trembling and the tears running down her 
 cheeks. "I see them everywhere, even in the 
 dark. When he is with me, and I look into them, 
 I feel myself grow weak, and then I think I love 
 him. But I have not seen him since this trouble 
 began, since papa has been on trial, with his repu- 
 tation at stake, and I feel free again." 
 
 She stopped abruptly, and looked at her mother, 
 who had sunk into a chair in a state of complete 
 collapse. 
 
 "Don't be frightened," she said in a calmer 
 tone. "I am a woman now. I am no longer a 
 girl. I will do as you wish. I will see Mr. 
 Emmersley, and he shall learn from me that he 
 does papa a great injustice. He will believe me. 
 I do not blame him for thinking as he does. But 
 I know now that Mr. Gardwell made papa make 
 those dreadful decisions. There was no trouble 
 before we met that man. Papa was always 
 right in Bowerville." 
 
 "I knew you would go," said Mrs. Dunn. "It 
 is the only way we can save your father from dis- 
 grace. Mr. Gardwell says " 
 
 "Don't mention his name to me again," cried 
 Harriet, flaring up afresh. "I see it all now: 
 
292 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 butterflies, carriage rides, flowers, that horrid 
 phonograph, and even the house we live in ! But 
 papa is innocent, and Bob Emmersley shall know 
 it." 
 
 "You have no right to talk so about the man 
 to whom you are engaged," interrupted her mo- 
 ther. 
 
 "Mother," said Harriet in a solemnly deter- 
 mined tone, "I will never marry Elliot Gardwell. 
 He has denied our engagement, and that denial 
 shall stand. I will never see him alone again. 
 Come," she said, opening the door; "it is nine 
 o'clock." 
 
 The two women slipped noiselessly out of the 
 house and found the carriage in waiting. The 
 night was chilly, and the driver wore a light-col- 
 ored topcoat, the high collar of which was turned 
 up until it concealed his features. He opened the 
 door and helped the ladies in. When his hand 
 touched Harriet's elbow, she felt a shock run 
 through her, as if from an electric current, and 
 she sank into the carriage seat with a gasp, for 
 she knew that the driver was Elliot Gardwell. 
 
 Robert Emmersley was pacing the floor of his 
 room, revolving in his mind the situation of affairs 
 under the new light thrown upon it by Tusher's 
 disclosures. After all, he thought, the judge has 
 been an innocent victim of designing men of 
 Elliot Gardwell. 
 
 There was a knock at the door, and a card was 
 handed him. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 293 
 
 "Miss Dunn." 
 
 He read the name aloud, and it startled him. 
 Pronounced in this formal way, it seemed to widen 
 the distance between her and him, and a pain 
 pierced his heart. Then the nature of her visit 
 suggested itself, and he exclaimed : 
 
 "He is dragging her into it too, the villain! " 
 
 Cool and collected, a few minutes later he en- 
 tered the room where Harriet was waiting. She 
 arose as he entered, and he noticed how very pale 
 was her face. 
 
 "Pardon me, Mr. Emmersley," she began, "for 
 having disturbed you, but I came to save one who 
 is very dear to me from becoming the victim of a 
 cruel injustice. I refer to my father." 
 
 "I was not aware," replied Emmersley, "that 
 there was any danger of any one having injustice 
 done him at my hands, least of all your father, 
 Miss Dunn." 
 
 He pushed a chair towards her, but she re- 
 mained standing. 
 
 "I am aware that my father stands indirectly 
 accused of acting at the dictation of Mr. Gardwell 
 and other gentlemen," continued Harriet, "and 
 that he did so by reason of being under deep obli- 
 gations to them. I know that this is false, and I 
 come to give you my word for it, and to beg of 
 you not to break his heart by adjudging him guilty 
 of motives which he could never be capable of har- 
 boring. He may have been a victim of cunning 
 and unscrupulous men, but he is as honest and 
 
294 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 upright a man as he was when you knew him in 
 Bowerville." 
 
 She spoke these words in a slow, strange, stilted 
 way, as if reciting a piece which she had learned 
 by heart. She knew it, but could not help it. 
 
 "I am glad to hear that," replied Emmersley, 
 "and I wish I could believe it. I wish it were 
 true of others whom I used to know there." 
 
 He paused a moment, as if to note the effect of 
 his cruel fling. "It is certainly commendable in 
 you to take this step in defense of your father, 
 especially as it involved your coming in contact 
 with such a degenerate as myself, but it was not 
 at all necessary. You come too late." 
 
 Harriet gave a start and clasped her hands, and 
 a look came into her face that caused Emmersley 
 a moment of agony. 
 
 "Too late," he hastily continued, "for the rea- 
 son that to-night I accidentally learned certain 
 facts which, in my mind at least, exonerate your 
 father from that of which I deemed him guilty. I 
 am sure that he did not know who placed him on 
 the federal bench. It is fortunate that I learned 
 this as I did, for had an angel come as Elliot 
 Gar dwell 's messenger I would not have believed 
 her under oath." 
 
 Harriet drew herself up, and her eyes flashed. 
 
 "Robert Emmersley," she cried, "you do me a 
 cruel wrong. I have not seen Mr. Gardwell since 
 he denied our engagement, and that denial will 
 never be questioned." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 295 
 
 A drowning man will grasp at a straw, but a 
 man in love will clutch at a shadow. 
 
 "Harriet," whispered Emmersley, stepping for- 
 ward and looking down at her, "Harriet, tell me 
 that you do not love him. Remember the old days 
 at Bowerville." 
 
 She raised her head. "Robert," she began, 
 but at that moment other voices interrupted her : 
 
 "We will wait here until he comes," said the 
 stout woman to her younger companion as they 
 swept into the room. "We will wait here if it 
 takes all night for him to get away from that 
 ' friend ' who never goes into the theatre, and who 
 is always waiting for him behind the hotel screen. 
 Just as if I did n't know that that was the bar- 
 room." 
 
 Emmersley opened the carriage door, and as- 
 sisted Harriet in. The window was down, and, 
 reaching through the opening, he took a little 
 hand in his and, bending over, quickly kissed it 
 as he snapped the door shut. The driver was 
 looking down over his shoulder, and an instant 
 later the whip-lash fell on the flanks of the off 
 horse, and the team sprang forward. Emmersley 
 stood, and with wonder beheld the driver ply the 
 whip to the horses and saw on the reins. 
 
 Once in the carriage, Harriet's strength left 
 her, and she fell to crying softly to herself. 
 
 "There, there, dear," said Mrs. Dunn, stroking 
 Harriet's forehead. "You are a brave girl. But 
 the impudence of that upstart! He kissed your 
 hand." 
 
296 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 " Did he ? " asked Harriet. " Dear old Bob." 
 There was little rest for either Gardwell or 
 Emmersley that night. The young congressman 
 struggled between his stern sense of duty and the 
 thought that should his report in any wise reflect 
 upon the judge, it could not fail of wounding 
 Harriet. The flame of the old love burned more 
 fiercely within him than ever before, and the 
 promptings of self-interest urged him not to deal 
 too harshly with the old jurist who, no matter how 
 culpable he might be, could never be looked upon 
 by her as other than a kind and indulgent parent. 
 On the other hand, he could not return a favorable 
 report where he found so much to condemn, and 
 he had no idea of stultifying himself by doing so, 
 a course that would virtually amount to an indorse- 
 ment of Gardwell and his methods. In this di- 
 lemma he had recourse to an expedient not in- 
 frequently seized upon by statesmen when hard 
 pressed. He resolved to frame a report which 
 would be unstinting in its denunciation of the 
 system and principles that made such occurrences 
 possible, and to let the blame rest on the system 
 rather than upon the individuals involved. With 
 this happy solution he threw himself on his bed 
 with a clear conscience, and went to sleep with a 
 vision of Harriet before his eyes. 
 
 Gardwell was racked by deeper passions. He 
 knew too well the influence of personalities, one 
 on another; and while he felt that the result of 
 Harriet's visit could not fail to be of great value 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 297 
 
 to himself and his associates, he began to fear that 
 perhaps he might have to pay too dearly for it; 
 for had it come to a blunt proposition to lose a 
 million dollars or Harriet Dunn, he would have 
 given the million up without a moment's hesita- 
 tion. It was her tear-stained face and the kiss at 
 the carriage that had aroused his forebodings and 
 unleashed the green-eyed monster within, to rage 
 uncurbed, for Gardwell had never before been 
 jealous of any man. 
 
 Lost in reverie, he sat for a long time after he 
 reached his apartments, and he grew despondent, 
 a mood to which he was not at all prone. A feel- 
 ing of gloomy foreboding seemed to settle down 
 upon him like a dank cloud of vapor smothering 
 the workings of his mind and dimming the view 
 that he must needs take into the future. In vain 
 he strove to shake it off. He talked aloud in a 
 jovial voice, but the shallowness of the pretense 
 was apparent to him. He felt that he was acting 
 (himself both performer and audience), and ceased 
 in disgust. He poured out a glass of brandy, but 
 as he was raising it to his lips he stopped, and 
 suddenly threw the contents on the rug at his feet, 
 exclaiming, "The first resort of a weak man, the 
 last for a strong one! " 
 
 The gloomy spirit was upon him ; and as he sat 
 with his haggard face resting on the palms of his 
 hands, with his elbows on his knees, none may 
 know what were his thoughts. But they were 
 black enough, and dealt with many deeds that 
 
298 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 were dark, and in which money was not always 
 a controlling factor. At last he arose, and, going 
 to a cabinet, opened a drawer from which he took 
 a bundle of letters. He smiled cynically as he 
 ran them over and glanced at the name on the 
 envelope, and which was not that of Elliot Gard- 
 well. They were addressed to various cities through- 
 out the country, Louisville, St. Louis, Cincin- 
 nati, and other places of lesser size, indicating 
 that the person to whom they were sent had led a 
 roving life. 
 
 "Poor fellow," he said, with an ironical laugh, 
 "he is dead, and his creator will now destroy the 
 last proof of his having once lived. He received 
 many letters, but, thank heaven! he answered 
 none." 
 
 With that he placed them in the grate and, 
 touching a match, watched them as they blazed up 
 and slowly became black and charred. 
 
 As if the blaze had worked a charm upon him, 
 his mood suddenly changed, and he felt a strong 
 exhilaration. 
 
 "The last bridge is crossed! " he exclaimed tri- 
 umphantly. "The young upstart will give us the 
 report we want, the Trans - American will be 
 smooth sailing after that, and then Harriet, 
 sweet Harriet, you shall be mine. These eyes 
 will not fail me." 
 
 He walked to a mirror and gazed for some mo- 
 ments into their black depths. 
 
 "There is something in them," he said at last, 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 299 
 
 "that even I cannot look long upon; and you, 
 dear Harriet, are but a needle following a magnet 
 when they are fixed on you. The next time we 
 meet alone, it will be again as I will." 
 
 But even as he spoke, the girl herself had made 
 a resolve, and one that she kept. 
 
 The closing; events of the examination of the 
 
 O 
 
 Congressional Committee into the proceedings 
 growing out of the Trans-American receivership 
 were not above the commonplace. A few witnesses 
 were examined, and the chairman announced that 
 the investigation was concluded. The three mem- 
 bers of this court of inquiry left that night for 
 Washington. Before they departed, however, 
 Gardwell received assurances that their report 
 would not contain any strictures upon Judge 
 Dunn, a bit of knowledge that he kept to himself. 
 To Bass and Skeener he expressed the utmost con- 
 fidence that the finding would be satisfactory to 
 all involved, and he again adopted the light-hearted- 
 ness, not to say frivolity, of manner which had so 
 alarmed and annoyed them before. 
 
 The judge was very busy with a law case which 
 kept him searching records each night, and was 
 unable to see Gardwell when he called ; and when 
 Gardwell sought an interview with Harriet, he was 
 informed that she was indisposed. This annoyed 
 him at first, and he was inclined to insist on his 
 right to see her, but he accepted the explanation 
 that she was suffering from a severe sick head- 
 ache, and went away. 
 
300 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 The circumstances of the congressional investi- 
 gation had made a deep impression upon the 
 judge, and given rise to doubts in his mind whether 
 he had been wholly without blame in going to the 
 extreme that had marked his course. But so 
 strong had been the influence of Gardwell, coupled 
 with the manifold congratulations that were thrust 
 upon him by all with whom he was associated, that 
 he dismissed his doubts as simply evidences of 
 weakness in his own character. He confined his 
 reading to papers wherein he was sure of finding 
 commendation of his attitude, and he further for- 
 tified his position by studying only such works as 
 treated the menacing problems of the hour as being 
 the result of agitation by designing demagogues 
 among ignorant foreigners incapable of under- 
 standing our institutions. He was now become 
 quite a lion in the club, which, however, he did 
 not frequent as much as formerly, but where his 
 appearance was the signal for the gathering of all 
 the older money-bags about him to shower upon 
 him their encomiums for his "brave and manly 
 course in disregarding the clamor of a misguided 
 public." 
 
 Van Tipple, on several occasions, had given 
 him to understand that fortune had smiled upon 
 their joint speculation, and that the total sum had 
 now reached upwards of fifty thousand dollars. 
 Although at first he had been an unwilling partici- 
 pant in this speculation, if so it may be termed, 
 he was not at all sorry now that he had entered 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 301 
 
 into it. So great was the change in his character 
 that he even took no small delight in figuring over 
 the amount to which it might grow, like the game- 
 ster when he is first enticed into a game, and en- 
 joys the thrill of winning. Take it all in all, there 
 had been so great a change in this man, that there 
 was no more resemblance between the Judge Dunn 
 of Bowerville and the Judge Dunn of the federal 
 court than there is between the humblest laboring 
 man and the millionaire. For Gardwell he still 
 had the profoundest regard, but he no longer 
 looked upon him as a guide and adviser. He had 
 learned to walk alone in his new sphere, and the 
 success which he had achieved and the commenda- 
 tions which he had earned he believed were the 
 result of his own clear discernment of what, under 
 the circumstances, was right. On several occa- 
 sions, and with a tinge of jealousy, he had heard 
 Gardwell given great credit for certain events 
 for which he believed himself wholly responsible. 
 He accordingly resolved to keep more aloof from 
 the younger man in the future, and to teach him 
 and the world in general that his services were not 
 at all essential to the proper conduct of the federal 
 court, and he was perfectly sincere in the belief 
 that he had not been influenced by Gardwell or 
 any other man. 
 
 It was Harriet alone who had inspiration to 
 discern the true state of affairs. She had compre- 
 hended the whole plan in an instant, while talking 
 with her mother on the night that she went to see 
 
302 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 Emmersley. The adventures of that night had 
 been such a strain on her nerves that it brought 
 on a fit of sickness which kept her to her bed for 
 several days. She had conceived a loathing for 
 Gardwell, whom she now saw in his true light, 
 while her old attachment for Emmersley had burst 
 forth into love as deep-seated as it was strong and 
 tender. She recalled the many arts which Gard- 
 well had practiced to ensnare her heart and gain 
 her consent to marriage, and she contrasted them 
 with the blunt, honest conduct of the friend of her 
 earlier days. She was tempted to write to Gard- 
 well, renouncing him forever, and apprising him 
 of the fact that she knew of his fascinating and 
 insidious influence upon her father; but she feared 
 his power and his resentment, which, not being 
 able to injure her, would be directed against her 
 father. In this confusion of mind she had re- 
 course to the plea of sickness, which granted her 
 a seclusion that she could not otherwise have ob- 
 tained, and which she took advantage of long after 
 she was wholly able to be up and about. She 
 feigned a nervousness verging almost on hysteria 
 whenever the doctor was present, which so im- 
 pressed that worthy man that he was deaf alike 
 to the entreaties and threats of Gardwell, who 
 sought to see her. In the meantime she waited 
 anxiously for the report of the Congressional In- 
 vestigating Committee. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 IN the employ of Gardwell there was a man by 
 the name of Anson McGregor, a sort of confiden- 
 tial bookkeeper, in which capacity he had served 
 for many years. He was between fifty and sixty 
 years of age, rugged of constitution, and showed 
 none of the stoop and pallor that usually come to 
 those who scribble figures in big books. Among 
 his few intimate associates, and in the several de- 
 partments of the company into which his work 
 took him, he was said to possess a magnetic fac- 
 ulty by which he could afford almost instant relief 
 to persons suffering from small ills, such as head- 
 aches or anything, in fact, where the nerves were 
 affected. He was exceedingly chary of exercising 
 this power, not wishing to be looked upon as a 
 charlatan, but many of those who at first were the 
 greatest doubters had gradually grown to repose 
 the utmost confidence in his ability as a " magnetic 
 healer." 
 
 When Gardwell, just before the arrival of the 
 Congressional Committee, had shown those signs 
 of nervous derangement and mental disquietude 
 which had so alarmed his associates, an under 
 secretary had made bold to inform Skeener of 
 McGregor's strange attainments. Skeener saw 
 
304 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 the drift immediately, and by a subterfuge set 
 McGregor at some work in the room with Gard- 
 well. On several occasions when Gardwell was 
 visited by paroxysms of rage or unnatural hilarity, 
 McGregor had quieted him simply by standing be- 
 hind his chair and slowly moving his hands above 
 his head. 
 
 Gardwell had now begun to show returning signs 
 of his old trouble, and had alarmed his associates 
 by his flightiness; while his sudden outbursts of 
 ungovernable passion over trivial occurrences, such 
 as a misplaced character in a typewritten letter, 
 or an unwelcome caller, kept his subordinates in 
 a constant state of terror. McGregor was again 
 installed in the office upon a pretext invented by 
 Skeener, who brought him a large batch of papers 
 to be indexed, and both Bass and Skeener noticed 
 with secret gratification that Gardwell greeted the 
 old man with great friendliness, and assigned him 
 a desk in one corner of the room. There was 
 something in Gar dwell 's manner that told the old 
 Scotchman that he knew more about him than he 
 cared to admit before Bass or Skeener; and one 
 day when they were alone, and the corporation 
 general had been resting for a while with his fore- 
 head in his hands, he suddenly wheeled about and 
 said : 
 
 "McGregor, they tell me you have the power to 
 remove headaches simply by laying on hands. I 
 want you to try it on me. I have an incessant 
 pain in the top of my head. Come, man, don't 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 305 
 
 sit there like a doddering idiot, looking at me as 
 if you never saw a man with a headache." 
 
 McGregor arose and, placing a chair in front of 
 the ailing man, held his hands in his own for a 
 few moments, gazing intently into his eyes. He 
 then made a few passes across his forehead and 
 leaned back in his chair. 
 
 Gardwell shook his head several times, and a 
 pleased look of surprise came into his face. 
 
 " Wonderful ! wonderful ! " he exclaimed. 
 "Why, the pain is gone, gone for the first time 
 in twenty-four hours. How long have you been 
 with the company, McGregor?" 
 
 " Twenty-five years come the 5th of next Decem- 
 ber," replied McGregor. 
 
 "Twenty -five years of faithful service should be 
 rewarded. You will be retired on a pension on 
 December 5." He scribbled a memorandum on a 
 bit of paper, and tossed it into a pigeonhole in his 
 desk. 
 
 Bass and Skeener were announced at this mo- 
 ment, and they were rejoiced to find Gardwell in 
 something like his old frame of mind. They dis- 
 cussed Trans-American affairs, listened to his clear- 
 cut plans for future operations, and received his 
 assurances that they need have no fears about the 
 congressional report, with more confidence than 
 they had before felt. He was in a particularly 
 joyous mood, and concluded by saying : 
 
 "And now, my friends, I may as well tell you 
 that I have had enough of this. The way is clear 
 
306 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 for the Trans-American, and I intend to straighten 
 up my affairs and take a rest. My marriage will 
 take place at once, and I shall spend several years 
 abroad. She is the most lovely, the most charm- 
 ing, the most" 
 
 McGregor had risen noiselessly, and stood be- 
 hind Gard well's chair, moving his hands in the 
 air. 
 
 Gardwell stopped, his head dropped back, and 
 his eyelids closed for an instant. Presently he 
 opened them again, and said: 
 
 "What was I saying? Oh, yes. We had bet- 
 ter walk over to the club. I wish to see Judge 
 Dunn." 
 
 That evening Gardwell and the judge had a 
 long talk together in a corner of the big reading- 
 room. He was greatly surprised to find that the 
 judge had materially modified his views regarding 
 the marriage, and showed none of the enthusiasm 
 with which he had spoken of it on former occa- 
 sions. On the contrary, he said that if the Con- 
 gressional Committee's report in any way coupled 
 his name with Gard well's or subjected him to any 
 condemnation, the marriage should be indefinitely 
 postponed. 
 
 "My standing is such before the country, Mr. 
 Gardwell," said the judge somewhat pompously, 
 "that I could not afford to allow anything that 
 might be construed as corroborative of insinuations 
 recently made by the young Populist demagogue, 
 who is at the bottom of the whole conspiracy." 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 307 
 
 As Gardwell felt easy on this score, and was 
 confident that Harriet's tears had secured protec- 
 tion for both herself and the judge, he readily 
 acquiesced and made further terms to the effect 
 that in case the report was satisfactory in the re- 
 spects named, his marriage with Harriet should 
 take place at once. To this the judge agreed. 
 But Gardwell marveled greatly at the change in 
 the judge's manner towards him. He laughed 
 bitterly as he walked to his apartments. 
 
 "He has taken his degree and graduated with 
 high honors," he soliloquized, u but forgets that he 
 ever had a tutor. He would take oath on a stack 
 of Bibles as high as the Eiffel Tower that I have 
 never influenced him, one way or the other, and 
 the recording angel would have to accept it as 
 being to the best of his knowledge and belief. He 
 has fed on the meat of newspaper praise, and mis- 
 takes the flattery of the money class for the voice 
 of the people. I have given my friends a stout 
 champion, but when the storm breaks I shall be 
 safe on the other side of the water." And he 
 laughed again, though with less of bitterness as he 
 contemplated the prospect of his trip abroad, for he 
 always thought of Harriet in connection with that. 
 
 Gardwell slept but little, and his nervousness 
 and general deportment alarmed his friends Bass 
 and Skeener. As for his physician he had long 
 since dismissed him, and refused to have anything 
 to do with any of the tribe. "A pack of shallow 
 confidence men they are," he declared, "whose 
 
308 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 sole aim is to ascertain just what the patient is 
 wholly unable to do, and then offer it as a pre- 
 scription. Rest and quiet for me! drop every- 
 thing and retire to some secluded nook just at the 
 moment when I am about to reap the reward which 
 I have given the best years of my life to attain. 
 As well tell the hungry tiger with his prey in his 
 claws that a vegetable diet is his only salvation. 
 He would rather eat and be damned." 
 
 It was in the afternoon, and McGregor and 
 Gardwell were alone in the office. The older 
 man had occasion to leave the room for a moment, 
 and when he returned he came face to face with 
 Gardwell, who had risen and was pacing back and 
 forth. As he met his gaze, he started back, 
 dropped the papers that he held in his hands, and 
 uttered an exclamation of horror and dismay. 
 
 "What the devil is the matter with you, Mc- 
 Gregor?" cried Gardwell, at the same time quickly 
 turning and looking behind him, for McGregor's 
 eyes seemed to be fixed on some object beyond 
 Gardwell. 
 
 McGregor made no reply, but began to gather 
 up the papers which he had dropped. When he 
 arose with them in his hands, Gardwell repeated 
 his question in a more peremptory tone. 
 
 "Why, nothing, Mr. Gardwell," stammered the 
 old man; "I had a little start, that was all. It 
 was a rush of blood to the head. Nothing serious. 
 I am all right now." 
 
 But his manner was such that Gardwell, with 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 309 
 
 his keen penetration, saw that he was withholding 
 something, and he resolved to know what it was. 
 
 "Put your papers down and take a seat," he 
 said, at the same time drawing his own chair over 
 and seating himself. "Now, McGregor, there is 
 no use attempting to conceal anything from me. 
 What did you see? " 
 
 McGregor made no reply, and sat with bowed 
 head before his chief. 
 
 At last he answered in a low voice, and without 
 looking up : " It would be better for all concerned 
 if I did not answer. I beg of you, Mr. Gardwell, 
 not to force me into revealing something that for 
 your sake I would keep to myself." 
 
 "Since when have you become my guardian?" 
 cried Gardwell, the blood rushing to his face, and 
 the long ridge beginning to grow on his forehead. 
 "You presume too much on the familiarity with 
 which I have treated you. I command you to 
 speak up at once. It will go hard with you if you 
 are not frank spoken," he added. 
 
 Thus addressed, the old ma'n, after casting an 
 imploring look at his commander, cleared his throat 
 and began : 
 
 " I have no alternative but to obey your orders, 
 but I ask that what I may tell you shall be con- 
 sidered as strictly between ourselves." 
 
 Gardwell nodded impatiently, and the Scotch- 
 man continued : 
 
 "I am descended, Mr. Gardwell, from a Scot- 
 tish family, the name of which is familiar to all 
 
310 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 who have read the works of Sir Walter Scott. In 
 our clan, at least in one branch of it, there were 
 men, and in some instances women, who were re- 
 puted to be possessed of powers beyond the com- 
 mon ken of men. These powers were used for 
 the healing of the sick, but oftentimes in forewarn- 
 ing friends of an impending evil. The gift, or 
 curse, whichever you may choose to call it, has 
 been transmitted, skipping several generations, or 
 remaining dormant in individuals who never dis- 
 covered, or at least revealed, their strange powers. 
 With me it has been exercised in the direction of 
 alleviating certain ailments of a nervous nature. 
 I have never sought to develop it, excepting in 
 that direction. In our family there was, as the 
 sign of approaching danger, like the white lady of 
 the Campbells or the wraith of the Bruces, a 
 black mark or disk suspended in the air behind, 
 or slightly over, the person marked by fate. I 
 have seen it but three times in my life, and its 
 appearance has been the forerunner of great dis- 
 aster to the person about whom it hovered." 
 
 He stopped here, as if filled with a greater hor- 
 ror than he dared express, and Gardwell, who had 
 listened to the recital without moving a muscle, 
 said in a smooth and easy tone : 
 
 " And the last time you saw it? " 
 
 "Was just now, behind your head," answered 
 McGregor. 
 
 Gardwell sprang to his feet, upsetting the chair 
 as he did so. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 311 
 
 "You are a damned old charlatan!" he cried 
 fiercely, his eyes blazing and his lips twitching. 
 "Do you think to frighten me with a lot of six- 
 teenth-century gibberish? I myself practice the 
 art of which your hag of a granddame was an 
 adept, but mine is on the nineteenth-century basis. 
 Here, Finley," he yelled, pressing his electric call- 
 button until the blood trickled from under his 
 thumb-nail, "why in the devil don't you answer 
 when I call?" he roared, as the clerk rushed into 
 the room. 
 
 "Take this blithering old fakir and blackmailer 
 and give him his salary to the first of the month. 
 And mind you, put a black mark opposite his 
 name on the pay-roll, and never allow him in the 
 building again. Why are you standing there with 
 your mouth open? Can't you understand the Eng- 
 lish language?" 
 
 "But, Mr. Gardwell" began the affrighted 
 clerk. 
 
 "Don't open ypur mouth again, Finley, or I 
 will treat you to the same medicine I am dealing 
 out to this old quack. Take him away, I say." 
 
 McGregor had arisen, and was tottering toward 
 the door. 
 
 "Hold on!" cried Gardwell, "I forgot to ask 
 you, McGregor, how much money it would take to 
 wipe out that black mark?" 
 
 McGregor drew himself up and, looking steadily 
 into Gar d well's sneering face, replied in a dialect 
 that none had ever before heard him use : 
 
312 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Ye micht as well try to turn aside the thunder- 
 bolt wi' a wisp o' straw, Elliot Gardwell. The 
 hand o' fate has no itching palm, and a barrel o' 
 gold not ha' the power of an honest prayer." 
 
 "Take him away ! " cried Gardwell in a frenzy, 
 "take him away; pay him off and drop him down 
 the elevator shaft, for all I care." 
 
 He hustled the two men out of the room, and 
 locked the door. 
 
 Finley, much alarmed, after consultation with 
 several clerks, sent for Skeener, and half an hour 
 later that gentleman rapped on Gard well's door. 
 It was opened to him in a moment, and Gardwell 
 greeted the lawyer with great cordiality. He ap- 
 peared calm, and Skeener did not refer to the 
 episode with which Finley had just made him 
 familiar. They chatted pleasantly, and Skeener 
 accidentally touched on the forthcoming report of 
 the Congressional Committee. 
 
 "I take a great interest in it," he said. "I 
 should hate to see Judge Dunji in any way cen- 
 sured for his actions in the matter." 
 
 "You may take a deep interest in it, but how 
 much deeper mine is you cannot conceive," replied 
 Gardwell. " Skeener, upon it depends my future 
 happiness, beside which the money interests are 
 nothing to me. To be frank with you, upon that 
 report depends whether or not I shall marry the 
 only woman I ever loved, Harriet Dunn. If there 
 are any strictures upon the judge he will withhold 
 his consent, and that means a long and rocky road 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 313 
 
 for me to travel, for I shall never turn back until 
 I have won her. But I have no fears. It will be 
 all right, for the queen was the highest trump 
 out, and I played her to take the knave, and 
 the knave was Emmersley, the Populist patriot." 
 
 The door opened, and Finley brought in the 
 evening paper, which he laid on Gard well's desk. 
 Pie picked it up, glanced at it an instant, and 
 then jumped to his feet. 
 
 "Here it is! " he cried. "Judge Dunn exoner- 
 ated!" 
 
 Skeener looked over his shoulder, and the two 
 men hastily read the report of the committee, 
 which was a lengthy document. 
 
 "They handle the federal judiciary without 
 gloves," remarked Skeener. "'But we find in this 
 instance that Judge Dunn, taking the precedents 
 established by other federal judges, simply did 
 what these precedents, usurpations of power as 
 they were, logically led to,' " said Gardwell, read- 
 ing from the report. 
 
 "The corrupting influences of corporations are 
 denounced in plain enough language," said Skeener. 
 "That hits us rather hard." 
 
 "What do we care?" cried Gardwell exultantly. 
 "The judge is not hurt, and my plans are not in- 
 terfered with." 
 
 "This report cannot but have great effect upon 
 future litigation in connection with Trans-Ameri- 
 can affairs," continued Skeener quietly. "In the 
 face of this, no judge will have the hardihood to 
 
314 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 sustain us even to the extent that we have gone, 
 let alone any further." 
 
 "I do not propose to worry about the Trans- 
 American now," exclaimed Gardwell. "I have 
 spent too many sleepless nights over it. It will 
 not trouble me much longer." 
 
 Skeener shot a keen glance at Gardwell, and a 
 low whistle escaped his lips. 
 
 "Gardwell," he asked, "have you unloaded?" 
 
 " When a man decides to marry and settle down, 
 he usually arranges his affairs so as to insure his 
 having some time to devote to his wife." He 
 looked Skeener full in the eye as he spoke. "But 
 you will excuse me, I must hasten to let Judge 
 Dunn know the result. I will meet you and Bass 
 here to-morrow morning." 
 
 He picked up his hat and, dashing through the 
 door, left Skeener to follow with a great load of 
 doubt on his mind. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 GARDWELL felt that he was now close to the 
 reward for which he had struggled so hard, and 
 which had caused him to swerve from the path 
 which led to the height of power where wealth was 
 the sceptre and a corporation desk the throne. 
 He cared for none of this now, at least in his 
 present mood; he thought only of the lovely Har- 
 riet, whom he had vowed he would possess. He 
 went to his apartments before starting for the 
 judge's house, and there he chanced to notice on 
 his dressing-case a number of choice butterflies, 
 which he had been saving for special emergencies. 
 He had correspondents in various parts who still 
 sent him rare specimens whenever such came into 
 their possession, and from one of these he had 
 recently received a duplicate of the species with 
 which he had first insinuated himself into the good 
 graces of the judge. He took this one from the 
 box now, and a glow of satisfaction lit up his face 
 as he examined it. 
 
 "The Black Witch," he murmured; "indeed, 
 it was a witch to me, and none ever gave more to 
 man. I '11 take this to the judge to-night, and 
 my coming will be doubly welcome." 
 
 Gardwell had wisely waited to allow the judge 
 
316 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 time to receive the news from Washington, and he 
 found him beaming with satisfaction and radiant 
 with self -congratulation at having escaped censure 
 from one so biased as he believed Emmersley to be. 
 
 "Ah, my dear Gardwell," he cried, "I am de- 
 lighted to see you to-night ! The language of the 
 report, which I have just read, is such as to most 
 emphatically rebuke those who have taken occasion 
 to criticise me for my actions in the railroad mat- 
 ter. I hardly expected as much from the young 
 man who was chairman of that committee, and yet, 
 when I come to think of it, and of how he knew 
 me in Bowerville, he could not have done anything 
 else." 
 
 Gardwell smiled assent, and wrung the hand 
 that the judge extended. 
 
 "The strictures that are made upon the federal 
 judiciary are of course entirely unfounded," he 
 continued, "but they are in line with the general 
 misconception on the part of the public, and Mr. 
 Emmersley perhaps ought not to be blamed for 
 falling into the popular error. To be frank, I 
 myself at one time was guilty of this same mis- 
 conception. But all 's well that ends well, and I 
 am content to have suffered some uneasiness of 
 mind when I reflect that the right of the property 
 to full protection was insured by the firm stand 
 that I made. Without full protection to property 
 interests at all hazards, Mr. Gardwell, there can 
 be no stability to our institutions." 
 
 Mechanically the two men climbed the stairs, 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 317 
 
 and before they realized it were standing in the 
 butterfly study. The judge ceased speaking, and 
 looked around. 
 
 "Well," he exclaimed, "I don't know what 
 brought me up here ! " 
 
 "But I do," cried Gardwell, drawing a box 
 from his pocket. Raising the cover, he exposed 
 the Black Witch to view. 
 
 The judge uttered an exclamation of surprise 
 and rapture. 
 
 "The grandest specimen in the world!" he 
 cried. "So we each have a specimen now." 
 
 "No," Gardwell said, "this is yours. I am in- 
 terested in seeing you have a collection which will 
 outshine any in the world." 
 
 "Well," said the judge, after a pause, "I will 
 take it with no further protest, for after all it is 
 you who will inherit the collection, which will in 
 time become a famous one." 
 
 As he spoke, he laid his hand on Gard well's 
 shoulder, and looked him full in the eyes. 
 
 "Then I have your consent to our speedy mar- 
 riage?" cried Gardwell eagerly. 
 
 "Why, certainly," answered the judge, a trifle 
 surprised at Gardwell's manner. "Had you any 
 doubts on that score?" 
 
 Gardwell flushed and seemed deeply moved. 
 His lips twitched and his body swayed, while a 
 tremor shook his frame. The judge, greatly 
 alarmed, stepped forward and would have caught 
 him, but Gardwell quickly recovered himself. 
 
318 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "It is nothing," he said; "only a slight attack 
 of vertigo. I have worked rather hard lately. 
 But, thank God ! it is now over ; my struggles are 
 ended." 
 
 "You must take care of yourself," said the 
 judge; "you need a rest." 
 
 "There it goes again," cried Gardwell, half 
 rising from his chair, but quickly sinking back 
 again. "Take a rest. How could I rest? You 
 were in danger, the Trans-American trembled in 
 the balance, and that for which I had sacrificed 
 everything was about to be destroyed. Could I 
 rest under such conditions ? If that had been all, 
 I could have stood it; but above that, and above 
 all, I loved your daughter, and she, dearer than 
 everything else on earth, was, by the force of cir- 
 cumstances, thrown in with that for which I strug- 
 gled. Fortunate in everything else, I began to 
 believe that I should meet my unlucky star in my 
 love. This thought grew on me until it became 
 a dread which haunted me day and night. Now 
 when I hear from your lips the words that tell me 
 that my forebodings were unfounded, the relaxa- 
 tion from the strain unnerves me." 
 
 He bowed his head in his hands and began to 
 whimper like a boy. 
 
 "Why, man alive! what ails you?" said the 
 judge, slapping him on the back. "Your nerves 
 are unstrung. You shall see Harriet at once, my 
 boy; she is sitting up now." 
 
 "No,, no," cried Gardwell, starting up and look- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 319 
 
 ing wildly about him, "not now, not now. I have 
 a terrible pain in my head, and must be getting 
 home at once. I will be all right in the morning, 
 and I promise to follow your advice, and take a 
 rest, a long one, too." 
 
 "Very good," said the judge, "you had better 
 go home at once. If you are well to-morrow, you 
 must dine with us." 
 
 The family life of the Dunns had grown to be 
 strangely unlike what it was at Bower ville. The 
 judge was now engrossed in the work of the great 
 position which he filled, and he felt himself to be 
 a personage of no little importance in the commu- 
 nity, and even in the country at large. He spent 
 much of his time at the club, taking his mid-day 
 meal there, and associating with men whose sole 
 aim in life was to perfect and strengthen the power 
 which they wielded by reason of their wealth and 
 combination. Their real motives were veiled under 
 a great pretense of , care for the prosperity of the 
 country and the maintenance of institutions which 
 were democratic enough in name and origin, but 
 which had been so shaped as to enable them to 
 profit by them to an extent not dreamed of by 
 their originators. 
 
 The judge saw that wealth was but another 
 name for liberty, and that the lack of it was sla- 
 very, the weight of the chains depending only on 
 the conditions which governed the individual. He 
 had grown to take a deep interest in the " Charity 
 Fund," and assurances which he received at fre- 
 
320 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 quent intervals from Van Tipple made him aware 
 that he was no longer a poor man. But he was 
 at heart no speculator; and having good reason to 
 believe that his share was now close to fifty thou- 
 sand dollars, he decided to have a division of the 
 funds as soon as possible, a consummation which 
 he was certain could be reached by a word from 
 him to Gardwell. In this, however, he was antici- 
 pated by the corporation magnate, who had some 
 days before given orders to Van Tipple to close 
 the account. 
 
 Gardwell had for some time been quietly at 
 work settling up his affairs in such a way as to 
 convert everything that he possessed into money. 
 He foresaw, or thought he did, at least, the appre- 
 ciation of money as the result of financial legisla- 
 tion which had been enacted some years before, 
 and he was in a position to gather up his effects, 
 worth some millions, and depart for other climes, 
 leaving behind the scenes of his struggles and his 
 triumphs. 
 
 Gardwell was devoid of that feeling which is so 
 strong a trait in the French character, and he had 
 always cherished an ambition to pass the latter 
 part of his life away from a country where he had 
 little reason to expect favors saving those which 
 he could exact by means of a club or secure by 
 trickery. It was his intention to spend the rest of 
 his days on the other side of the Atlantic, amid 
 the roar of the London business world, the gayety 
 of Paris, and the delights of Southern Europe. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 321 
 
 He would take his newly wedded wife to Europe 
 for a bridal trip and not return for many years 
 perhaps never. 
 
 The judge had set his heart on the marriage 
 of Gardwell and Harriet, for he looked upon it as 
 an alliance that could not fail to be of material 
 advantage to himself, and he sincerely believed 
 that Harriet loved Gardwell, and would find in 
 him a kind and devoted husband. Judging as he 
 did by what he had seen of the man, it was not 
 strange that he should rate Gardwell extremely 
 high. 
 
 He was in an unusually pleasant mood when he 
 met his wife and daughter at the breakfast-table ; 
 and Harriet, who, whether from love of Emmers- 
 ley or anxiety for her father, had grown quite 
 pale, was overjoyed to see him thus. She con- 
 gratulated him on the outcome of the congres- 
 sional investigation, and ventured to express her 
 satisfaction over the fact that Emmersley had not 
 taken advantage of his position. Deep down in 
 her heart, she was brimming over with gratitude 
 to the young congressman, for she felt that it was 
 for her sake that he had allowed Gardwell to slip 
 through unlashed, lest her father should also feel 
 the goad of official condemnation. 
 
 "You are a child, Harriet," said the judge, re- 
 pressing his wrath with an effort. "You are 
 strangely quick to give credit to a man who simply 
 confined himself to the truth, when his past record 
 warranted the belief that he might not do so." 
 
322 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 Harriet bit her lip, and was silent. 
 
 The judge was in a talkative mood, however, 
 and he speedily gave free rein to his satisfaction 
 at the final outcome. 
 
 "By the way," he said, as they were about to 
 rise from the table, "I had a pleasant talk with 
 Mr. Gardwell last evening, and I have invited 
 him to dine with us to-night. I assured him that 
 you, Harriet, were now so much improved that 
 you would dine with us, and you should have seen 
 his face kindle with joy. He has suffered greatly 
 by reason of the strain he has been under, and he 
 has worried much over your illness. Ah, my dear, 
 you have secured a prize in such a man," and the 
 old judge, placing his arm about the girl's waist, 
 stooped to kiss her. 
 
 Harriet's face, pale as it had been, was now 
 white. She gave a little gasp and then, steadying 
 herself, said, in a voice so low that her mother 
 might not hear : 
 
 " Father, I want to see you alone, before you go 
 down town." 
 
 "Heigh, ho ! what 's this? " exclaimed the judge, 
 lightly holding her at arm's length and looking 
 down into her face. 
 
 "Well, come into the next room. Mother, 
 you '11 excuse us; Harriet has a little secret to 
 whisper in my ears." 
 
 "No," cried the young woman, suddenly throw- 
 ing her head up. "There shall be no secrets from 
 mother. Father," she continued, changing her 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 323 
 
 tone, which was now become inexpressibly sweet 
 and tender, " father, I do not want to do anything 
 that will give you pain, but I cannot marry Elliot 
 Gardwell; I do not love him." 
 
 If the judge had been of an apoplectic tempera- 
 ment, he would have dropped dead there and then. 
 There was a white flash over his face, and then 
 the blood rushed up until it was purple, and the 
 veins in his neck were swollen to twice their nor- 
 mal size. He tried to speak, but there was only 
 a gurgling in his throat. 
 
 Harriet sank to a chair and cowered at the 
 dreadful picture, but Mrs. Dunn stepped forward 
 and cried in a pleading tone : 
 
 " Tracy, I beg of you ! Tracy ! " 
 
 With a mighty effort the old judge drew himself 
 together, and, waving his poor wife back with fiis 
 hand, he roared : 
 
 44 Back ! back, I say ! This is a conspiracy, and 
 for the second time you turn my own flesh and 
 blood against me. You taught the boy to rebel 
 against my authority, until he drove himself away 
 from his home, and now you teach my daughter, 
 the idol of my heart, to defy me." 
 
 "Your charge is unjust and cruel," said Har- 
 riet. "Mother knows absolutely nothing about 
 my determination." 
 
 Mrs. Dunn stood as if stricken dumb, gazing at 
 her husband with eyes in which there was such a 
 look of horror and despair as would have melted 
 any but a man torn by passion. 
 
324 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Your determination? " fiercely interrupted the 
 judge, pacing up and down the room, and tearing 
 the newspaper that was in his hands into shreds. 
 "Your determination? Girl, you have no deter- 
 mination. It is I who determine in this family. 
 I will not be thwarted in this. I have set my 
 heart on it, and you shall not blast the hopes of 
 one of the noblest men I ever knew, simply to fol- 
 low a girlish whim." 
 
 He paused for breath an instant, and Harriet 
 began : 
 
 "Father, I"- 
 
 " Silence!" he shrieked. "Not another word 
 until I am through. I am calm, and know what 
 I am saying. You shall marry Elliot Gardwell, 
 or you are no longer a daughter of mine. Yes; 
 and your mother shall go with you. And further, 
 if you refuse to do as I command in this matter, 
 which is for your own welfare, I will disown my 
 son, and drive him from the door as I would a 
 leper, should he ever return." 
 
 "Harriet, Harriet," cried Mrs. Dunn, rushing 
 across the room and throwing herself at her daugh- 
 ter's feet, "do not kill me! He will return, I 
 know, and your father will do as he says. He 
 never forgets or forgives. Spare me, Harriet! 
 For my sake, Harriet! " 
 
 Harriet stood for a moment irresolute. She 
 looked down at the trembling, withered woman at 
 her feet, and then bending over, raised her up and 
 kissed her. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 325 
 
 * 
 
 "I will do as you command," she said, looking 
 straight at her father. 
 
 Mrs. Dunn gave a convulsive gasp, fainted, and 
 would have sunk to the floor had not Harriet held 
 her. 
 
 The judge sprang forward and caught his wife 
 in his arms and carried her to a sofa. Harriet 
 hurried to bring a glass of water, but when she 
 returned her mother had revived. They took her 
 up to her room, and soon she was resting quietly, 
 except for the tears that streamed from her eyes. 
 
 Harriet's eyes were dry, and there was an icy 
 calmness about her which chilled the judge, now 
 that he had won the victory. It was now close to 
 the time when he must open court, and, having 
 kissed his wife good-by, he left the room. Once 
 outside, however, he looked back and beckoned 
 Harriet to join him. She followed him down- 
 stairs. Then he turned, and, taking her hands in 
 his, he said : 
 
 "Forgive my violent language, my daughter. 
 You will never regret the obedience you now 
 show. I know what is for the best, and to have 
 you disregard my wishes would have broken my 
 heart." 
 
 "You are my father, and I shall obey," was all 
 she said, and he kissed her, and went out into the 
 street. 
 
 "And he has broken my heart," she groaned, 
 as she stood in the doorway and watched him 
 trudge down the street, shaking his head and 
 
326 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 thumping the pavement with his heavy cane. 
 "How blind he is. Thy will be done! " she mur- 
 mured, looking up and clasping her hands as if 
 in prayer. Then she went upstairs to her mother. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 WHEN Gardwell had left the judge's house, he 
 went directly to his apartments, which he reached 
 in so weak a condition that he could scarcely as- 
 cend the short flight of stairs that led up to them. 
 He awoke the next morning with a feeling of men- 
 tal peace, a complete sense of relief, and a buoy- 
 ancy of spirit that were alike as new to him as 
 they were welcome. He could hardly realize that 
 he was awake, and that it was not all a dream. 
 He stretched himself at full length, when he was 
 dressed, and surveyed himself in a pier-glass with 
 satisfaction, noting the new color in his face, the 
 brightness of his eyes, and the calm expression of 
 his features. 
 
 "A miracle!" he exclaimed. "I'd swear I 
 had quaffed of the fountain of youth in the night, 
 but that I never moved after I struck the bed. 
 But, after all, it is not so strange. To win a prize 
 such as Harriet would send the blood coursing 
 through the veins of a Methuselah. Rich, and 
 successful in the end, with the sweetest and fairest 
 girl in the world for a bride, why shouldn't I be 
 young again ? It was a long race and a hard one, 
 but victors never fail to recover from the strain; 
 it is the vanquished who wither beneath the un- 
 kind hand of fate." 
 
328 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 The interview that took place that morning be- 
 tween Gardwell, Skeener, and Bass was so short 
 and so quietly conducted that even Gard well's 
 confidential clerk, who observed much and said 
 little, was wholly unaware of its importance. 
 
 The two gentlemen came together, and Gard- 
 well greeted them with great warmth. Their re- 
 sponse was formal, and Gardwell noticed it in an 
 instant, and a little smile showed at the corners of 
 his mouth. 
 
 He was the first to speak after they had taken 
 seats. He saw that his two associates were aware, 
 or at least strongly suspected, that he had looked 
 out for himself, and was no longer interested in 
 the future of the Trans-American. He knew they 
 looked upon him as a traitor, but he cared little 
 for that; and as he had not the slightest inten- 
 tion of deviating from his plans, he did not pro- 
 pose to listen to any upbraidings. He had cut 
 adrift, but he had not scuttled their ship, and they 
 were welcome to navigate it as best they could. 
 What if he was the sailing master ? He was under 
 no contract to bring the ship to port, and if he 
 chose to make shift for himself he had a perfect 
 right to. He had no doubt but Bass would have 
 tossed him over on a moment's notice, were it to 
 his profit to have done so. 
 
 "Gentlemen," he began, "I may as well come 
 directly to the point. I have taken your advice 
 so often given; I am going to Europe." 
 
 "Gardwell," said Bass, "I understand that you 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 329 
 
 have left us in the lurch; that you have closed out 
 your holdings, and that even now the Trine people 
 hold your stock and bonds." 
 
 "I beg pardon," replied Gardwell quietly, "did 
 I understand you to say ' in the lurch ' ? Who was 
 it that put you in control ? Who caused a federal 
 judge to grant a receivership based on nothing 
 more than his desire? Who saved the road from 
 the ruin threatened by a strike by having that 
 same judge exceed the bounds which even a willing 
 judiciary of the East had never dared approach? 
 And who was it, when everything else had failed, 
 risked everything, yes, risked what was dearer to 
 him than his life, to shield that judge from a con- 
 demnation that would have reacted on the Trans- 
 American ? Have you forgotten the name of that 
 man?" 
 
 "I know you have done much," replied Bass, 
 "but"- 
 
 " Ah, but " said Gardwell, pacing slowly back 
 and forth with his hands clasped behind his back. 
 "But he followed the advice of his associates and, 
 in doing so, simply took the precaution that any 
 sane man would have done. You both urged me 
 to take this step." 
 
 "That is false!" cried Bass. 
 
 "You are not warranted in making such an 
 assertion," added Skeener. 
 
 "Hold a bit," said Gardwell quietly. "Did 
 you not both advise me to take a trip to Europe ? " 
 
 The two men nodded assent. 
 
330 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Good enough; and pray, did you expect that 
 a man would leave the country for a year's absence 
 in Europe and not settle up his affairs a trifle? I 
 supposed, of course, you expected as much when 
 you repeatedly urged me to go away. Really it is 
 a surprise to find you feeling as you do," and 
 Gardwell smiled blandly. 
 
 "It is true," he continued, before either could 
 speak, "that I may have taken some unnecessary 
 precaution, and I may have been a little sweeping 
 in my arrangements; but when a man takes unto 
 himself a wife and leaves his country for a year or 
 so, he should not leave behind any business re- 
 sponsibilities likely to cause him to neglect his 
 bride. Besides, after the life that I have led, and 
 judging by the fears of my two most intimate 
 friends, and my physician, for my health, I had 
 resolved perhaps never to return to this country." 
 
 Bass, had risen, and Skeener reached for his 
 hat. Both feared the man whom they now saw 
 ready to give them battle for the first time ; they 
 had profited by his prowess, and neither was in- 
 clined to measure strength with him now. But 
 Bass came of Down-East fighting stock. 
 
 "Elliot Gardwell," he cried, his steel-gray eyes 
 flashing, and every hair in his iron-gray beard 
 bristling, "you have played the traitor to us, and 
 you shall rue the day! " 
 
 "I said perhaps I would never return from 
 Europe, Mr. Bass," said Gardwell, stepping for- 
 ward, and raising his finger like a teacher admon- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 331 
 
 ishing a wayward child. "But enough of this, 
 gentlemen," he added, suddenly changing his tone. 
 "I have arranged affairs so that you need suffer 
 no inconvenience by reason of my absence, and all 
 the papers bearing on the Trans- American road, 
 and everything else in which we were interested, 
 will be delivered to you by Boylston. He will 
 act as my agent here while I am where both of 
 you so often counseled me to go." 
 
 He opened the door, and bowed them out. 
 
 Left to himself, he turned back to his desk and 
 seated himself in his old office chair. The same 
 spirit of contentment and peace and rest that he 
 had wakened with was with him still. He lighted 
 a cigar, and the fragrance of the Havana surprised 
 him. He leaned back in his chair and, looking 
 into the bluish clouds that floated in wavy lines 
 before his eyes, he saw himself and Harriet at the 
 altar. He heard the swelling tones of the wedding 
 march. He heard her vows and took his own. 
 They stood together at the wedding reception, they 
 were on the train, they drove from the depot to 
 the great hotel, they were in their room together, 
 husband and wife, Harriet and himself. The nup- 
 tial couch was by their side, he felt her arms about 
 his neck, and the perfume of her warm breath was 
 in his nostrils 
 
 His clerk stood beside him, and laid a card on 
 the desk. He waved his hand to the clerk to go, 
 but the effort aroused him a trifle, and he glanced 
 at the bit of pasteboard and read the name on it. 
 
332 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Delia Windrift." 
 
 And in that moment the blood froze in the veins 
 of Elliot Gardwell. He became as if turned to 
 marble, his every muscle strung and his eyes start- 
 ing from their sockets as they remained fixed in 
 a staring gaze on that name. 
 
 The clerk had gone, and said to the owner of 
 the card : 
 
 "Mr. Gardwell will see you in a few moments." 
 
 After a while the clerk ventured back into the 
 room, and the noise of his steps, light as they 
 were, broke the charm and released Gardwell from 
 his horrible trance. 
 
 He turned his face toward the trusty clerk and 
 tried to speak, but there was only a rattle in his 
 dry throat. The clerk hastily drew a glass of 
 water from the cooler and gave it to him. He 
 clutched the glass and swallowed the contents with 
 a gulp. 
 
 "Shall I call Dr. Black?" asked the frightened 
 clerk. 
 
 "Not a word, Benson," said Gardwell in a 
 hoarse voice, grasping the arm of the young man. 
 "Not a word. It 's simply one of my attacks, but 
 no one must know of it. Tell the woman I cannot 
 see her to-day. No ; hold on ! " he said in a 
 hoarse whisper, for the thought came to him that 
 she might force her way in and create a scene. 
 " Tell her I cannot see her at present, for there are 
 gentlemen with me now. Tell her it will be sev- 
 eral hours. Get her to go away, Benson. Get 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 333 
 
 her away, and you shall have five hundred dollars. 
 But no; simply tell her I am busy with several 
 gentlemen, and will see her as soon as they are 
 gone." 
 
 Much marveling, the young man returned and 
 gave his message. "Very well," replied the wo- 
 man, seating herself in one of the chairs reserved 
 for those who waited, "I am in no hurry, but I 
 must see him. It is imperative." 
 
 Left alone again, Gardwell rose to his feet, and 
 staggered to the middle of the room. He tried to 
 draw himself together and to control his thoughts. 
 His whole body was shaken by a vibration that 
 was uncontrollable, and every muscle twitched and 
 jerked. His thoughts wandered, and he was un- 
 able to concentrate them for an instant. The 
 merest trifles came into his head; but when he 
 drove them out, nothing came to fill their places 
 beyond the one great, horrible thought that the 
 one person in the world whom he feared was wait- 
 ing just outside the door. She could ruin him 
 with a word. He tried to reason with himself, 
 but his thoughts resolved themselves into a gro- 
 tesque tangle. Did she know who he was? Was 
 she aware of his identity? If she knew it was he, 
 would she have sent a card in? No. Then it 
 was chance the deadly hand of fate that Mc- 
 Gregor had spoken of had reached out and stopped 
 him. But if she saw him, all was lost. She 
 would know him, he was sure. He thought of 
 cutting off his mustache with his desk shears. 
 
334 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 But what good would that do ? She would know 
 him by his nose, his eyes, the shape of his head, 
 and, even if he did not look up, by his voice. 
 Like a rat in a cage he followed the walls around 
 the room looking for a chance to escape. He 
 stopped in front of one of the windows and looked 
 down at the ground, six stories below. He noticed 
 how odd the horses looked, shaped like flatirons 
 and crawling along the asphalt pavement like bugs 
 on a plate. A great temptation came to him, and 
 he calculated how much time he would have to 
 allow in order to alight on the top of a white cov- 
 ered wagon that was passing below. But a dizzi- 
 ness and horror seized him, and he stepped back 
 from the window with a shudder; he had seen 
 himself lying on the top of the wagon with a blood- 
 stained face and dangling limbs bent into many 
 shapes. It was light, but the room seemed to 
 grow dark, and he groped his way to the water- 
 cooler. He drank first one and then another full 
 goblet until he had poured four streams down his 
 burning throat. His head grew clearer, and he 
 felt stronger. He walked to his desk, and touched 
 the bell-button. He crouched over behind his 
 desk when the door opened and Benson entered. 
 
 "Is the woman still there?" he asked. 
 
 "Yes," replied the clerk; "and she says she 
 must see you if only for a moment. She says she 
 will wait." 
 
 "Good God!" groaned Gardwell, "is there no 
 way to get her away? " 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 335 
 
 "I might send for a policeman," suggested Ben- 
 son. 
 
 Gardwell sprang to his feet and clutched the 
 young man by the throat. 
 
 "You are a traitor!" he hissed. "You are in 
 the conspiracy! You would ruin me! " 
 
 His strength suddenly left him, and his hold 
 relaxed. Benson freed himself and assisted him 
 back to his chair, into which he sank limp and 
 apparently lifeless, with his head dropped forward 
 on his breast. Benson raised his head and slowly 
 the color came back to his face, and he opened his 
 eyes. 
 
 "I must send for the doctor at once," said the 
 clerk. "You are very ill, Mr. Gardwell." 
 
 Gar dwell' s thoughts were clearer now. In an 
 instant they ran back over the events of the morn- 
 ing and summed up the situation. 
 
 "Not a word to any one about this, Benson," 
 he said sternly. "I am all right now. You can 
 see for yourself that I am. What kind of a look- 
 ing woman is she ? " 
 
 Benson gave a brief description. 
 
 "A woman in mourning! " exclaimed Gardwell. 
 "It is she. Tell her I am still busy. Do not 
 allow any one to enter this room, and do not come 
 yourself until I ring for you. Now, one word 
 more, Benson, not a word to any one of what you 
 have seen; and if you value your position and 
 your future welfare, see that my instructions are 
 obeyed to the letter. You may go." 
 
336 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 Alone again the old wild terror and feeling of 
 utter helplessness came over him. He grew dizzy, 
 and the room spun around like a top. He felt 
 himself going mad, but he closed his eyes, and 
 tried to master his thoughts. When he looked 
 again, the room was still, very still, and the silence 
 caused him a shock. 
 
 He said to himself, and repeated it over and 
 over again : 
 
 "There is no escape. I have lost." 
 
 Suddenly he made a resolve. 
 
 He picked up his phonograph, and carried it 
 to the corner of the room farthest from the door, 
 which he frequently regarded with apprehension. 
 He placed a clean cylinder on the machine, drew 
 up a chair, and adjusted the receiver. Then he 
 took a long breath, and, holding the funnel close 
 to his mouth, he spoke : 
 
 "My darling Harriet " 
 
 The sound of his voice frightened him, and he 
 dropped the tubing and looked over his shoulder 
 at the door. But no one came, and he reasoned 
 with himself that his voice could not be heard, 
 muffled as it was by the receiver. It was his in- 
 tention to send a false message, to make a lying 
 excuse ; but as he was about to begin it, the thought 
 came to him : 
 
 "Shall I die with a lie on my lips?" for he 
 had resolved to die. No; he would tell the truth. 
 He lifted the tube and began again : 
 
 "My dear Harriet " 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 337 
 
 He felt a choking sensation. He could not 
 breathe, and everything grew black before him. 
 He started to his feet, still holding the tube me- 
 chanically in his hand. 
 
 "My sins have found me out! " he cried. 
 "Delia! Delia!" 
 
 He threw up his hands, his body swayed for an 
 instant, and then slowly the weight of the head, 
 which had fallen forward, carried it over, the bal- 
 ance was lost, and he fell face downward on the 
 thickly carpeted floor. There was a tremor, the 
 fingers quivered, and Elliot Gardwell was dead. 
 
 The needle of the phonograph cut into the waxen 
 cylinder with a faint grating sound until it had 
 reached the end, and then all was still. 
 
 Benson, the clerk, grew nervous as the time 
 slipped by and he received no summons from his 
 employer. The chairs were filled with people 
 waiting to see the head of several great corpora- 
 tions. They sat there stolidly waiting, each half 
 suspicious of the other, and some of them envying 
 the man whose stormy and joyless life had just 
 tragically ended in the other room. 
 
 "It is possible that Mr. Gardwell will not be 
 at leisure until after dinner," said Benson to the 
 woman, inwardly trembling at the liberty he was 
 taking in even thus disregarding the letter of his 
 instructions. "Perhaps you had better give it 
 up, and come back again." 
 
 "Oh, no, indeed," she replied, with a smile. 
 "A bird in hand, you know. I have been too 
 
338 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 long a newspaper reporter to give up when I have 
 my game so neatly cornered. I am to get an in- 
 terview with him, but that will take only a few 
 minutes.. Most of all, I want to see him, and get 
 a general idea of what he looks like. Do you 
 know, we cannot find that he ever had a picture 
 taken? I am here to get a pen portrait of him, 
 and I am as quick as a camera. Perhaps you 
 could explain to him, and he could give me a short 
 interview. I have got to be back in Chiopolis to- 
 night. My article will be a Sunday special for 
 the ' Forum.'" 
 
 As it drew past the noon hour a few of those 
 who waited gave up and left, but the woman 
 showed no signs of uneasiness. At last a telegram 
 arrived, and Benson eagerly seized it as an excuse 
 to enter the room. 
 
 "I went twenty-four hours without eating, wait- 
 ing for the verdict in the Snell divorce case," said 
 the woman, with a little smile, as Benson passed 
 her. "I can do it again." 
 
 Benson closed the door after him, and at once 
 saw the prostrate form of Gardwell on the floor. 
 Much frightened, he rushed forward and rolled 
 the body over. The ghastly face showed that life 
 was gone, and the clerk, with a gasp of horror, 
 shrunk back. But though he was a young man, 
 his training in Gardwell's service was such that 
 he lacked neither nerve nor discretion. He hesi- 
 tated only an instant, then turned and left the 
 room, and his face told nothing to those who waited 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 339 
 
 outside. Two minutes later the higher officials of 
 the company knew of the calamity, and several of 
 them went into the room. Even in the last scenes 
 attendant on the death of this man the discipline 
 and order maintained by those who had served 
 under him were a tribute to his genius and his 
 methods. 
 
 The doctor came and made his way into the 
 room; the clerk on guard admitted him without 
 a word. There was a hasty examination, and the 
 doctor shrugged his shoulders, and remarked : 
 
 "Just as I feared. Another case of angina 
 pectoris." 
 
 Then came the police authorities, the coroner, 
 and a string of reporters. The coroner and the 
 police officers entered; the reporters, despite their 
 clamors for admission, were kept out. 
 
 So quietly had all this been done, that the wo- 
 man who had waited so patiently now realized for 
 the first time that something had happened. She 
 sought out Benson, who was back at his desk, 
 writing telegrams. 
 
 "What has happened?" she asked. 
 
 "Mr. Gardwell is dead," replied the clerk. 
 
 "Oh, isn't that dreadful!" she exclaimed. 
 "It's too bad," she added; "I have missed my 
 interview." 
 
 A man appeared at the door and, shutting it 
 behind him, announced that he would give all the 
 facts to the press. 
 
 Mr. Gardwell had been ailing for some time, 
 
340 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 and had intended to go to Europe for his health. 
 He had had one of his attacks while alone in his 
 office, and had passed away peacefully while sit- 
 ting at his desk. His death had been painless 
 and sudden. That was all. Could they see the 
 body? No; it had been decided that as little as 
 possible should be written about it. The body 
 was being prepared to be taken to an undertaking 
 establishment. 
 
 Delia Windrift tried in vain to get permission 
 to see the body, even if only for an instant. It 
 was carried out, and the reporters for the after- 
 noon papers hurried to their respective offices. 
 Delia lingered, and managed to get a glimpse of 
 the interior of the room, but that was all. 
 
 She telegraphed for instructions, and was re- 
 solved that she would see the dead man. Half an 
 hour later she received a message telling her to 
 get all the facts, and take the three o'clock train. 
 It lacked ten minutes of train time, and she obeyed 
 orders. 
 
 The next day the "Forum " had the best account 
 of the sudden death of Elliot Gardwell. And the 
 widow of Charles Windrift, who only a month 
 before had received proof of his death by drown- 
 ing in Lake Superior, never knew that she had 
 thus written the obituary of her husband. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 THE sudden death of Elliot Gardwell was the 
 closing episode in a series of events which he, as 
 chief actor in them, shaped and controlled with a 
 degree of skill to which few men attain. To those 
 whose lives were so strangely changed by these 
 events, it was perhaps fortunate that he was re- 
 moved from the scene of action just when he was. 
 Had he lived, complications most serious must 
 have ensued, and to those who have undertaken 
 the task of telling this story would have been sup- 
 plied a sufficiently mysterious entanglement and 
 a climax amply dramatic to satisfy even that vet- 
 eran reader of novels whose morbid taste craves 
 such situations. Without these, even, the narra- 
 tive, though crude, is interesting as a striking 
 illustration of the strange force of environment 
 a force strong enough in this instance to transform 
 a sturdy and conscientious champion of the rights 
 of the masses into an equally strong and honest 
 exponent of the rights of the classes as against the 
 masses. Which of these two positions was the 
 correct one? is a question in ethics left for the 
 reader to study and decide for himself, bearing in 
 mind, as he pursues his deliberations, that Judge 
 Dunn, of Bowerville, circuit judge of Stallworth 
 
342 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 County, was just as sincere as Judge Dunn sitting 
 on the federal bench, no more, no less. 
 
 There was a good deal of the clay about Gard- 
 well's early villainy, and he was as daring as he 
 was unscrupulous. Sparing the reader a recital 
 of the details of his licentious duplicity, it is suffi- 
 cient here to record what the reader has already 
 been able to infer, that Elliot Gar dwell and Charles 
 Windrift were one and the same person. Under 
 the name of "Charles Windrift," and in the heat 
 of an early passion, he had married Delia in New 
 York city. The fortunate speculation in stocks 
 which gave him his first start toward wealth, and 
 which was followed in quick succession by others 
 so fortunate that he speedily became a compara- 
 tively rich man, occurred shortly after this mar- 
 riage. His ambition had soon outgrown his com- 
 panion, who, despite her pretty face and charming 
 manners, could bring to him no social advantages, 
 and he did not confide in her his good fortune. 
 Instead, under the pretense of having secured a 
 better position in the West, he sent her home to 
 her parents in a Massachusetts town, and came to 
 Malton. He had no intention of ever seeing her 
 again, and he left her with as little compunction 
 as he had fear that she would in any way interfere 
 with his future plans. He was not long in the 
 West when his passion for her returned, and he 
 formed the plan which he successfully carried out 
 until the moment when, by a strange chance, the 
 woman he had wronged came to thwart him, just 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 343 
 
 as he was about to receive the prize which was to 
 mark the pinnacle of his desire. He had written 
 to her that he had secured a position in the Secret 
 Service, with headquarters at Chiopolis, and had 
 sent sufficient money for her to come to him. He 
 had fitted up a flat in that city and had there in- 
 stalled her, explaining that the nature of his occu- 
 pation was such that his identity must be kept a 
 secret, and that he could be with her only on Sat- 
 urday nights and Sundays. To keep up this char- 
 acter, he had her letters addressed to him at vari- 
 ous cities in the West, in care of agents of his 
 company, and thence forwarded to him, so that he 
 was ever ready to refer to their contents when he 
 saw her, although he never wrote any letters in 
 reply. His passion for her did not wane until the 
 day on which he first saw Harriet Dunn's girlish 
 face and figure, when a desire which was never to 
 take flight while he lived seized him. 
 
 What little ray of good intent ever penetrated 
 into Gard well's heart came from his attachment 
 for Harriet, and but for this spark there is little 
 doubt but he would have made quick shift of 
 Delia. And he would have viewed her discom- 
 fiture as complacently as would any Turk, who. to 
 be rid of a member of his harem, would have 
 sewed the superfluous creature in a sack, and 
 watched her disappear beneath the waves of the 
 Bosporus. Accordingly, he devised another method 
 which was forever to remove from existence the 
 fictitious "Charles Windrift," and provide for the 
 
344 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 widow sufficiently to return her to the country 
 home of her childhood, and support her for life. 
 He flattered himself she would betake herself 
 thither, to pass the rest of her days in a peaceful 
 though mournful widowhood. While his affection 
 was shallow, he accorded to Delia's a depth that 
 was the other extreme, for Gardwell had some of 
 the weaknesses of men. 
 
 The story of Windrift's drowning in the icy 
 waters of Lake Superior, where the dead never 
 come to the surface to tell tales or cause burial 
 expenses, was his invention; and Stalker, who 
 played the role of eye-witness and carried out the 
 other details, was the bearer of papers which placed 
 the widow in possession of the income her dear 
 husband had seen fit to leave her. Stalker was to 
 be trusted, for Gardwell owned him, body and 
 soul, and could have put him on trial for his life 
 in two States, and besides, he was given to under- 
 stand that Charles Windrift was a distant relative 
 who had now gone to Japan, and in whom Gard- 
 well was interested. 
 
 It was Stalker, however, who probably came 
 nearer to the truth than any person, and this is 
 borne out by the fact that after he had spent a 
 half day in secret conference with Gard well's two 
 brothers, he resigned his position with the Trans- 
 American, removed to New York, and there lived 
 in a manner indicating the possession of indepen- 
 dent means. 
 
 Strange to say, Gardwell left no will, and his 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 345 
 
 fortune was claimed by these brothers, who came 
 on from the East on money advanced them by 
 their employers, for neither had seen Elliot or 
 heard from him since they were barefoot boys to- 
 gether on the Vermont hills. There was evidence 
 that he^had made a will several years prior to his 
 death, but this he had probably destroyed, for it 
 was never found. 
 
 It was a singular result of the death of this 
 strange man that, while there was the utmost ap- 
 prehension on account of his sudden removal, 
 scarcely any friction or disturbance ensued. Bass 
 and Skeener seized the throttle, and guided the 
 Trans-American through the crooked defiles and 
 dark tunnels which marked the way to the termi- 
 nus of their joint ambition with as steady a nerve 
 and as much disregard for law and equity as could 
 have been expected of Gardwell in the days of his 
 keenest zest for millions. In this they were fa- 
 cilitated by the acquiescence of a federal judge in 
 whom favorable rulings and decrees were born of 
 a motive and not from the womb of conviction, 
 even though the conviction were a bastard. For 
 Judge Dunn, overwhelmed and immeasurably 
 shocked by the sudden death of his friend, together 
 with certain disclosures that were forced upon him 
 as to the true character of Gardwell, was taken 
 with a nervous disorder and resigned from the 
 bench. He was encouraged in this action by Rob- 
 ert Emmersley, who had hastened to his side on 
 the first news of the judge's prostration, some two 
 weeks after the death of Gardwell. 
 
346 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 Upon this young man, who was as kind and 
 considerate as he was generous and discreet, fell 
 the management of the affairs of the Dunns. To 
 Harriet he acted as a brother, with tenderness and 
 quiet firmness, which was but a cloak for his well- 
 checked ardor, but which well-nigh broke the heart 
 of this tender young woman. Towards Mrs. Dunn 
 he showed all the affection of a son, and listened 
 to her wailings and faultfindings with great pa- 
 tience. But with the weak old judge, he was 
 simply a man of business, a lawyer looking after 
 his affairs, a fact of which the judge took frequent 
 occasion to remind him. 
 
 "I want you to remember, Mr. Emmersley," 
 said the judge one day, "that I am directing my 
 own affairs, and that you are to be fully recom- 
 pensed for your services when I am up and about 
 again." 
 
 "Certainly," replied Emmersley, "I am keep- 
 ing a careful account, and I assure you that you 
 will think I ask enough when I turn in my bill. 
 I learned a thing or two in Washington." 
 
 "Yes," said the old judge, "and I have learned 
 a good deal in this accursed city. But, thank 
 God! I never sold the old homestead at Bower- 
 ville." 
 
 In settling up matters, Emmersley learned, with 
 no small surprise, that Judge Dunn had to his 
 credit in Van Tipple's bank the sum of eighty 
 thousand dollars. He was greatly shocked, and 
 at once sought Van Tipple, who, with no hesita- 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 347 
 
 tion, made him acquainted with all the details of 
 the strange deal. 
 
 "I will confess that I made no such sum 'of it 
 myself," he concluded, "but that is the amount 
 that Gardwell turned back to me to be placed to 
 the judge's credit after I had made a settlement 
 with Gardwell. I asked no questions, and I do 
 not suppose you will. Gardwell was a strange 
 man, and I can assure you that Judge Dunn knows 
 as little about it as you did up to a few minutes 
 ago." 
 
 Emmersley was greatly relieved by this expla- 
 nation, and he soon ^afterwards informed the judge 
 that his affairs were in excellent condition, and 
 that there was quite a sum to his credit in Van 
 Tipple's bank, some thousands of dollars, ample 
 in every way to enable the judge and his family 
 to return to the Bowerville home, and there take 
 a much-needed rest. The judge had grown quite 
 feeble, and he showed no signs of surprise, con- 
 tenting himself by saying: - 
 
 "Very well, Emmersley, whatever you think is 
 for the best." 
 
 And so it came that, in a short time, the house 
 in the city was given up, and the judge, with his 
 wife and daughter, was once more back in the old 
 home. And with them were Betsy and Eufus, 
 both somewhat subdued, but both equally delighted 
 at being "home" again. 
 
 Emmersley came over from his mother's house 
 the second evening after they were settled. Har- 
 riet let him in. 
 
348 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 "Good-evening, Harriet," lie said. 
 
 And she answered : 
 
 "Good-evening, Robert." 
 
 It was so natural that it seemed as if both un- 
 derstood in an instant. He held out his arms 
 and there was a pleading look in his blue eyes. 
 She seemed to droop a little for an instant, and 
 then, without a word, she half stepped, half fell, 
 forward, and her hands were on his brawny shoul- 
 ders, her head on his breast. The great long arms 
 closed in, and Robert Emmersley held what he 
 had never given up hope of gaining. He had 
 asked her to be his wife, and she had promised, 
 but neither had spoken a word. He stooped over 
 and kissed her burning cheeks and stroked her 
 hair. 
 
 "Harriet, my darling," he said softly, "you 
 have made me very happy, for oh, I love you so. 
 There, there, don't tremble, you poor little thing." 
 
 "It is not for fear," she whispered, looking up. 
 "I love you, Robert." 
 
 His answer was a kiss, the first warm kiss of 
 love that had ever touched her lips. 
 
 "I want you to be a brave girl, and listen to 
 what I have to tell you without making any out- 
 cry. I am not going to rob your father and 
 mother; I take their daughter, but I will return 
 a son to them." 
 
 "Brother Tom!" were the words that were on 
 Harriet's lips; but Emmersley clapped a hand over 
 her mouth, and, opening the door, he put an arm 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 349 
 
 about her waist and stepped out on the porch with 
 her, as if she were a feather. 
 
 "There," he said, "disobeying the very first 
 thing." 
 
 "Oh, Robert!" she cried, all in a tremor, 
 "have you found him? Have you found brother 
 Tom?" 
 
 " Come, little one, let us take a walk. We are 
 too near the house to suit my purposes." 
 
 He slipped his arm around her waist, and they 
 went down the old walk together. 
 
 Before they returned, Harriet had heard his 
 story, and knew his plans. 
 
 "To-morrow night," said Emmersley, as he 
 kissed her good-night. "Neither of them has any 
 heart trouble, I know from old Dr. Biddle, and 
 there will be no danger." 
 
 The old judge was at his table the following 
 evening, sorting some papers; Mrs. Dunn was 
 seated in her rocking-chair, and Harriet was at 
 the window peering out into the darkness. 
 
 "I hardly feel strong enough to go upstairs to- 
 night," said the judge, "and when Mr. Emmersley 
 calls I must ask you both to retire and leave us 
 alone. We have some business affairs to settle. 
 He has promised to render the bill for his services 
 to-night." 
 
 There was a rattling of the knocker on the front 
 door as he finished speaking, and Harriet flew to 
 open it. It* was Emmersley. He hung up his 
 
 
350 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 hat, snatched a kiss in the hall, and strode into 
 the room. 
 
 "Shy lock is ready to exact his pound of flesh! " 
 he exclaimed, shaking hands with the judge, "sev- 
 eral pounds, I might say." 
 
 The judge looked up in surprise, and even Mrs. 
 Dunn glanced over her glasses at him, so entirely 
 different was his bearing to-night from what it 
 usually had been. 
 
 "Ah ! " he exclaimed, glancing through the door- 
 way into the kitchen, "and I see our old friends 
 Betsy and Rufus are with us, as in the good old 
 days." 
 
 "Mr. Emmersley," began the judge, with a 
 show of his old-time dignity, weak as he was. 
 
 "I beg your pardon," interrupted the young 
 man, "but I make bold to ask the privilege of 
 terminating our business relations in my own way. 
 Will you humor me to-night ? I ask it as a special 
 favor, and it is a part of my bill for services." 
 
 "You have the right to ask any favor that I can 
 bestow," answered the judge in a softened tone. 
 
 "Very well, then, I would like to begin the 
 proceedings by reading a short selection which I 
 desire to put in evidence in substantiation of the 
 claim I am about to submit to you for adjudica- 
 tion." 
 
 He took from his pocket a small leather-bound 
 Bible, opened it at the book-mark, and, clearing 
 his voice, began to read : 
 
 "'What man of you, having an hundred sheep, 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 351 
 
 if he lose one of them, doth not- leave the ninety 
 and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which 
 is lost, until he find it? 
 
 "'And when he hath found it, he layeth it on 
 his shoulders, rejoicing. ' ' 
 
 Mrs. Dunn began to weep softly, and Harriet 
 was by her side soothing her and stroking her gray 
 hair, for it was gray now. The judge's head was 
 bowed, and there were little drops of water on the 
 papers on the table over which he leaned. Em- 
 mersley continued : 
 
 "'And when he cometh home, he calleth to- 
 gether his friends and neighbours, saying unto 
 them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep 
 which was lost. ' ' 
 
 Suddenly the judge's head came up. 
 
 "Robert Emmersley," he thundered, "what do 
 you mean ? Do you thus come to mock over me " 
 
 At that moment the side door opened, and Betsy 
 strode into the room. 
 
 "There's a strange man been sneaking and 
 hang-dogging 'bout the door for nigh onto half an 
 hour, an' everything in the place 'd be stolen if it 
 wa'n't fer me. I 've asked what he wanted twict, 
 an'" 
 
 "'For this my son was dead, and is alive again; 
 he was lost, and is found,' " cried Emmersley in a 
 loud voice, and utterly regardless of a mixture of 
 parables. 
 
 The door was dashed open, and a man sprang 
 into the room. Betsy reached for the tongs that 
 
352 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 hung near the fireplace, the judge started up, and 
 then dropped back, his face as white as a sheet, 
 while Mrs. Dunn, with a scream, threw herself 
 into the arms of the stranger. 
 
 "Mr. Thomas Dunn, at home once more!" 
 shouted Emmersley, catching up Harriet and giv- 
 ing her a hug such as she declares she had never 
 felt before or since. 
 
 The subject of this commotion drew his mother 
 to his breast with his left arm, and, extending his 
 right hand over the table to the judge, said, in a 
 deep bass voice : 
 
 "Father, forgive me. I was wrong, but not 
 guilty." 
 
 "Tom, my own boy, Tom! " cried the old judge, 
 seizing the proffered hand, and bursting into tears. 
 "God bless you! and God forgive me! " 
 
 J-ust what was said during the next ten minutes 
 nobody ever knew, for everybody excepting Em- 
 mersley talked at once, and he was quite busy 
 with Harriet. 
 
 It was Betsy who came to first. Hushing out 
 into the kitchen, she returned, bringing a little 
 old blue-rimmed plate, the pewter mug, and the 
 bone-handled knife and fork. 
 
 "There!" she cried, placing them on the table, 
 with a pitcher of milk and a plate of bread beside 
 them, "there ain't a day passed but what your 
 mother had 'em waiting for you." 
 
 And then it was that the tears gushed from the 
 eyes of the bushy-bearded man for the first time 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 353 
 
 in many years, and again he stooped and kissed 
 his mother, while she twined her poor old arms 
 about his neck. 
 
 "Mr. Emmersley," began the judge, clearing 
 his throat. 
 
 "Oh, papa," cried Harriet, "not 'Mr. Em- 
 mersley ' 
 
 "Judge Dunn," said Emmersley very ceremo- 
 niously, as if addressing a court, " we have a little 
 matter which has not been settled. I told you I 
 would ask enough for my humble services, and I 
 now do so. I ask the greatest treasure in the 
 world, I ask a wife." 
 
 He took Harriet by the hand and, leading her 
 up in front of the judge, they both knelt and 
 bowed their heads. 
 
 And then, just as if it was n't many hundreds 
 of years old and dreadfully hackneyed, the old 
 man said in a trembling voice : 
 
 "God bless you, my children. Take her, Em- 
 mersley, and may she make you a loyal and loving 
 wife." 
 
 One more word before closing, as the preacher 
 says. There was little mystery connected with 
 the reappearance of Tom Dunn at just the time 
 when he was needed most in all the years that he 
 had been away. Befriended by labor leaders who 
 were interested in his case, from its importance as 
 affecting the powers of 'the federal courts, he was 
 kept from jail, and eventually from being brought 
 
354 THE FEDERAL JUDGE 
 
 to trial at all, the federal authorities nonsuiting 
 the case. In achieving this result Congressman 
 Emmersley was a factor, although he had no idea 
 that the Montana prisoner was the son of the fed- 
 eral judge who was at that time his enemy. 
 
 Dunn kept his secret well, and it was not until 
 he learned of his father's sickness that the hard- 
 ness left his heart. Coming to Malton on his way 
 to Chiopolis, where he hoped to get employment 
 with some railroad, he learned that Emmersley 
 was looking after the judge's affairs. Confident 
 that Emmersley would not recognize, in the bronzed 
 and weather-beaten engineer of a mountain run, 
 the little boy of Bowerville, he called on him to 
 make some inquiries regarding his father's health. 
 Emmersley had a rare gift, and saw at a glance 
 a great resemblance to the judge. He pictured to 
 his visitor the feeble old man with broken spirit, 
 and then gradually led up to the broken-hearted 
 woman who had for years mourned the loss of her 
 son. The man gave a great sigh, and Emmersley 
 saw his lips quiver, shaded though they were by 
 the great mustache and the tawny beard. 
 
 "You are my man, Tom Dunn!" cried Em- 
 mersley, and the man broke down and wept like 
 a child. The outcome of it was that Dunn agreed 
 to return home when the old folks should be settled 
 at Bowerville in the house where he was born. 
 How well the plan was carried out is already 
 known. 
 
 The judge grew stronger, and soon became very 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDGE 355 
 
 much like his old self before he went to the city 
 to be a federal judge. He never talked about 
 Gardwell, and seldom referred to any of the events 
 that marked his career in the city. On questions 
 relating to labor and capital he was extremely 
 non-committal, although it was noticeable that he 
 gradually shaped his reading, now that he was 
 back in Bowerville, towards such publications as 
 leaned to the side of the "masses." 
 
 At any rate, he bothered no one with his opin- 
 ions, and spent much of his time studying butter- 
 flies, and in fishing. If he had any suspicions of 
 the insincerity of Gard well's love for butterflies, 
 he never gave evidence of it, but it was considered 
 significant, by both Emmersley and his wife, that 
 they could obtain no trace of the "Black Witch," 
 which had suddenly disappeared from the collec- 
 tion. 
 
 That he knew more about certain matters than 
 he showed in his talk was afterwards proven. 
 Speaking to his son Tom, one day, he said : - 
 
 "Ah, Tom, how could you grow so cruel as to 
 let your mother grieve for you all those years? " 
 
 "I don't know, myself, father, how I could 
 have done it," replied Tom, with eyes cast down. 
 "It must have been my surroundings." 
 
 "Ay! " cried the judge, with a start, "that was 
 it, boy. Nobody knows any more than I about 
 the force of " 
 
 And there he stopped. 
 
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U. S. A, 
 
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 LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS 
 
 Book Slip-Series 458 
 
N9 823560 
 
 Lush, C.K. 
 
 The federal judge 
 
 PS2351 
 
 L47 
 
 F4 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 DAVIS