Page:American Boy's Life of William McKinley.djvu/162

132 A doctor was sued for malpractice, his patient claiming that the physician had set his broken leg in such a fashion that the limb was bow-legged to the point of positive deformity.

The doctor was well known, and when the case came to trial, the court-room was crowded. The plaintiff's lawyer made a long argument, stating that previous to the time when his client had injured his limb the leg had been perfectly straight, and that it would now be straight if it had been properly set, but that the doctor had performed an operation which had done more harm than good, and left the man in such a condition that he was the laughing-stock of the whole community. Heavy damages were demanded, and the jury could not do anything but give the poor, suffering plaintiff his just due.

"I will now have my client show the twisted limb," continued the lawyer, and had the man roll up his trouser leg. "There, did you ever see anything more frightful? It is an outrage, positively an outrage!" he cried loudly. "If my client had been rich, this would never have