Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 02.pdf/416

 A Limb of the Law.

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A LIMB OF THE LAW. By Eugene J. Hall. f~N a New England farm, at a distance from town, Where Canada thistles and pebbles were plenty, Lived in a quiet seclusion Ezekiel Brown, Unthoughtful of fame until past one-andtwenty. He was green as a gosling, and little he knew Of the devious ways of the great world outside Of the small country town where he flourished and grew, Whose little affairs were a source of such pride To the people who lived there, contented to plod And walk in the ways that their grandfathers trod. But " Zeke " was progressive, and not like a crab, To stay and go backward like others about him ■ He 'd a wonderful gift from a fellow called "Gab " — (Where, where is the lawyer who " gets on" without him?) "Zeke" would sit on a box in the old country store, And argue and argue, for hours and hours; To the loftiest flights in debate he would soar. The shrewdest of talkers succumbed to his powers. • The wondering old Yankees looked on and said, "Pshaw! He wa'n't made for a farmer, he 's cut for the law." So often this thought was suggested to him, That he said to himself, " I 'll jest lay down my hoe An' leave the old farm, where the prospect is slim For a man o' my talents ambitious to grow. It 's better to work in the shade with one's jaw, Than to sweat in the sun for the dollars and dimes; An' the very best thing one can say o' the law Is that business is best in the hardest o' times." Zeke's soul became filled with a sense of unrest; He " pulled up his stakes " from the farm and went West.

He came to Chicago, one warm summer day, — A thrifty young town, " where things went with a hop." Here he drove in his stakes and determined to stay And work his way " up from the foot to the top." His plausible tongue, his intelligent face, His shrewdness, persistence, and good com mon-sense Soon found him a very subordinate place In the little back office of Peckham & Pence, Where by struggling and working, with purpose sincere, He started himself in his famous career. Here he labored with " Blackstone," with "Washburn" and "Kent," Till his brain became weary by constantly reading. He dozed over " Coke; " weary, long hours he spent With "Parsons on Contracts" and "Chitty on Pleading." He went to the law school, where, patient and mild, The "good old professor" sat in his armchair (How well we remember the way that he smiled At the forensic flights of our fancy while there; How fine his distinctions 'twixt whereas and moreover, Devises, remainders, replevin and trover!) Ezekiel said little, but sat there askance, With his big mouth wide open to catch every word; In a seedy black coat and old cream-colored pants, Presenting a picture grotesque and absurd. Yet the questions he asked the Professor were clever, And the boys used to say, as they looked at his cheek, "He 's just loading up for some future endeavor. Wait and see if the world don't sometime hear from ' Zeke.' "