Page:Lynch Williams--The stolen story and other newspaper stories.djvu/135

 hovering round at a distance now hurried over to Linton and asked, "What did you get out of them, old man?"

"Nothing much," said Linton, as reporters nearly always do, and then he began to tell them as much as he thought Mrs. Wells would not object to their knowing. Mrs. Wells seemed to be watching him from across the room.

Just then the clerk called "Hawkins vs. Wells," and the other reporters hurried up to the press-table in front of the judge.

Linton hesitated a moment, looked across the room at the woman who had a cousin, then at the other reporters hurriedly sharpening their pencils. He kept on looking at the reporters. They would write the story. He took some copy paper out of his pocket—from force of habit. Those fellows did not know how to cover this story. He tore off a bit of copy paper and began to chew it. Then he said, "Oh, well, he thinks I'm writing it anyway," and walked up to the table.

The case did not last very long. Each side had brought shoes to court and held