Attorney and client -- Fiction; Law firms -- Fiction; Legal stories; New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction
"But in that case they'd merely go before the Grand Jury and find
another--a good one. It's much better to try and knock the case out on
the trial once and for all."
"Well, the Appleboys are waiting to see you," said Tutt. "They are in my
office. Bonnie Doon got the case for us off his local district leader,
who's a member of the same lodge of the Abyssinian Mysteries--Bonnie's
been Supreme Exalted Ruler of the Purple Mountain for over a year--and
he's pulled in quite a lot of good stuff, not all dog cases either!
Appleboy's an Abyssinian too."
"I'll see them," consented Mr. Tutt, "but I'm going to have you try the
case. I shall insist upon acting solely in an advisory capacity. Dog
trials aren't in my line. There are some things which are _infra
dig_--even for Ephraim Tutt."
* * * * *
Mr. Appleboy sat stolidly at the bar of justice, pale but resolute.
Beside him sat Mrs. Appleboy, also pale but even more resolute. A jury
had been selected without much manifest attention by Tutt, who had
nevertheless managed to slip in an Abyssinian brother on the back row,
and an ex-dog fancier for Number Six. Also among those present were a
delicatessen man from East Houston Street, a dealer in rubber novelties,
a plumber and the editor of Baby's World. The foreman was almost as fat
as Mr. Appleboy, but Tutt regarded this as an even break on account of
the size of Tunnygate. As Tutt confidently whispered to Mrs. Appleboy,
it was as rotten a jury as he could get.
Mrs. Appleboy didn't understand why Tutt should want a rotten jury, but
she nevertheless imbibed some vicarious confidence from this statement
and squeezed Appleboy's hand encouragingly. For Appleboy, in spite of
his apparent calm, was a very much frightened man, and under the creases
of his floppy waistcoat his heart was beating like a tom-tom. The
penalty for assault in the second degree was ten years in state's
prison, and life with Bashemath, even in the vicinity of the Tunnygates,
seemed sweet. The thought of breaking stones under the summer sun--it
was a peculiarly hot summer--was awful. Ten years! He could never live
through it! And yet as his glance fell upon the Tunnygates, arrayed in
their best finery and sitting with an air of importance upon the front
bench of the court room, he told himself that he would do the whole
thing all over again--yes, he would! He had only stood up for his
rights, and Tunnygate's blood was upon his own head--or wherever it was.
So he squeezed Bashemath's hand tenderly in response.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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