University of Nebraska College of Law - Yearbook (Lincoln, NE)

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between the pages of my book, and forgot that it was three o'clock in the morning. Several days passedg I had consulted my client several times and Bled my petition for her divorce. That was a proud moment in my life when I saw my first papers filed carefully away in a neat little folder, and knew that at last I was a practicing attorney and recognized as such by the laws of my state. The case was set for trial the following week. The intervening time I spent in working up an argument that I felt should move the court to tears, and in retrospection of my charming client. These latter spells, to my dismay, grew more and more frequent, and it soon became evident to me that this matter of obtaining her divorce was beginning to mean somewhat more to me than merely winning my first case at the bar. I do not believe I really disliked the idea, and when certain little air-castles began to grow in my mind, I found myself taking quite a pleasure in watching them as they gradually assumed towering proportions. 5 lj , f ,f K fr T ff 'ff -Q -j-,S,g, ,Q-L sszyjgfjs... 1 l FEl-1rewi7- trawl .-.. s . .M - ,' I -I? :F 17 r E -, .-', ' - :Ea v'y Lf' L LIL i.. TI: 1 .. ' rfisass ' iff l - if -wiki?-illlitrf tirf7 lff M. . . E , -- , .,1+m,l .M uf-. :PFS--..- .. in -nillil Jil., :ij VHIJY 1! t ...M-.i n-.. - ,f -,.-,'1'. .nf',' .l.f,:y'-'. , ' ' wlllt li'!,',l1.g 3 ,e i fy iyelttdfriwillLlp! we-eff as e 'reel -- f l--il.l'i w'tJf.',i,' lf! - gi. s.'fl1vw L - ' Jssffyf' - f -.4- s . , ' 'll' Civ..-fd' eng' 'iff .-r ...LfZ 341j'f,, A 1, 112

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I hardly know how to tell youg it 's so terrible I can scarcely bear to think of it, myselfg but-I want to see about getting a divorce. I-X divorce! The word struck me like a blow, and for a moment I stared. Then, I quickly recovered myself. Of course! I might have known from her appearance that was her trouble. Poor young creature, some brute of a man who could not understand and ap- preciate her delicate nature had probably mistreated her. I waxed warm. I assure you, madam, that I shall be very glad, indeed, to help you. I make a specialty of such cases -I excused this on the ground that I specialized in domestic relations while study- ing law at college- and believe me, if you will state the circum- stances, you may assure yourself of my assistance. She told me her story then. She had been married six months ago, and had come out to this little western town with her husband, who traveled in the west for some wholesale house, making X- his headquarters, for the present time. During these six months their life had been very happy and things had run smoothly until two weeks before, when a misunderstanding occurred, followed by a violent quarrel. The following day, her husband had left on his usual trip but without bidding her good-bye, or saying even so much as a word to her before leaving. During the two weeks which passed she had received no word from him and at last she was forced to believe that he would not come back-that he had deserted her. , Poor young girl, what more could she do, tied to a villain like that, who had evidently taken advantage of a trusting heart, only to throw it carelessly aside, than to undo the wrong to herself by seeking her freedom once more? A deep sympathy for her rushed over me, and at the end of our interview, I warmly, nay eagerly, assured her that I would take up her case and push it through to the finish. ' My first client and my first case! I think I was the happiest man in X- that night as I sat up far into the morning and pored over dusty law books and dug out all the authorities I could on wife desertion, and refreshed my memory on the divorce laws. I was resolved to win, in fact, I assured myself I could not fail. Fail, and with those sad eyes before me, and the knowledge that a beauti- ful woman had been wronged? The idea was preposterous, and with renewed vigor I shoved my hands into my hair, and my face 111 ,

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After each interview with my client, I found it more and more difficult to put from my thoughts the picture of her pensive face, saddened by trouble, but so patiently brave. Law books, with their pages of monotonous court opinions and decisions, would have be- come wearisome to me had it not been that my whole energy was directed to the winning of this, my first case. As it was, the oppo- site wall of my cubbyhole received a great share of my attention, and one night I hunted up a little old volume of The Reveries of a Bachelor that I had long ago discarded as not worth the trouble of reading. Up to the day of the trial, the defendant in the case had not been located, and my client had received no word from him. That it was a case of desertion pure and simple, I did not doubt for a moment, and I swore an oath against the man who would wilfully treat a good and beautiful woman in such a cowardly manner. I worked late the night before the trial, getting my facts to- gether into what I considered a powerful argument-please remem- ber it was my first case-and the next morning was early at my office. I was very much excited, the fact is, I had scarcely slept the night before, and was all aquiver with anticipation, for I was confident of success. I reached my office at half-past seven, and sat down to wait for my client, who was to come at nine-thirty. After staring at the opposite wall for fifteen minutes, and tiring of this, I jumped up and tried walking about my eight by ten cubbyhole. This was a bit exciting because of gigantic proportions of my desk, and the other furniture which nearly filled the room, and occupied my mind for probably half an hour. Then I took to drumming on the Window pane. Finding this uneventful, I pulled out my books and settled down to Bishop on marriage, divorce and separation. After ten minutes of gazing at meaningless words, the wall again received my attention. At nine-thirty my client had not arrived. I then got my papers in readiness, strolled over to the window and began another tattoo, with variations. 'Nine forty-five, and yet no client, At ten o'clock I was pacing about eight square feet of room like a caged tiger. -At ten-fifteen I could stand it no longer, and had decided to start for the court without her, or look her up personally, for I feared she was ill, when there was a rap at the door. e My heart leaped. I cried, Come in ! the door opened, and a scrub of a boy thrust his head in. 113