"As a spokesman. They know what they believe and what they want to fight for. But they've been inarticulate. Most of them are blue-blooded old fogies, with their souls full of fine ideals, but with no leader. In him (and in that speech of his last night he threw in his lot with them absolutely) they have a finely trained legal mind--for with all his old fire-works Sevier always had that--and a natural orator besides. You should have heard him last night! For two hours he held that great audience in a perfect spell. 'The finest exhibition of southern oratory since the war' the papers called it this morning, and I tell you, Craig, they weren't far wrong!" He stopped, somewhat embarrassed by his own enthusiasm, and wondering at the dark look on the other's face. Perhaps to hide this, Craig turned away. His fingers were twitching and for an instant he was not wholly master of himself. When he spoke, however, he had regained his governance. "After all, it wasn't the future of this anti-machine campaign that I came to talk about. There's something nearer home that is worrying me." "What's the trouble?" "The Welles-Scott case decision. It is to be handed down on the first of May. It must be in our favour." The other looked surprised. "But surely it will be." "It's not on the cards. I thought I knew the Judge, but there are signs that I'm afraid of." The attorney sniffed incredulously. "Judge Allen!" he exclaimed. "Why, the trust made him. And it keeps him made, I should think, too." Craig shook his head. "He's been talking lately. We've had warnings from some who are very close to him. This decision _must_ be what we want it to be. Voters are thinking more than they used to. If these Civic Club people keep up the agitation--particularly if they link on to the prohibition movement, as they are likely to do--the distillery may become a live issue in the next state campaign. That's the great danger. And this Welles-Scott case strikes at the heart of the matter. If the Trust loses this decision it will be the signal for a crop of bills in the next legislature that will cost us a cool million to fight. And they may lead anywhere. I tell you we _have_ to have it!" The other mused a moment. "The Judge, of course, can't be reached in--in ordinary ways." "Of course not. He's not venal. We've been able to depend on him so long because he has grown up with the Trust--he was its counsel for many years--and its interests were his. He thought with it. His mind ran in the same groove. But Beverly Allen, the Trust's counsel, and Judge Allen of the Supreme Court are different propositions. I always thought this test case was a mistake! But I was overruled. Well, we've got to have the decision. If one way won't bring it about, another shall. Something will have to--persuade him. He must have a weak spot. We must find it, that's all." "His life's been an open book, if that's what you mean," said the attorney, slowly.