Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 16.pdf/54

 A Temporary Injunction.

A TEMPORARY BY EDGAR WHEN Mike Brennan sold his town lots to a real estate syndicate there was a squabble over an old barn that stood on one of them. It was a ramshackley old structure, not good for much besides fuel, but the pur chasing concern thought it had more right to it than Mike, and when he went there with a gang of house movers and began hauling it away, the syndicate got Circuit Judge Shelton to issue a temporary restraining order until the rights of property could be determined. Constable Burke landed on Mike with his little paper while the moving was in progress. 'That's dot?" asked Mike. "Temporary injunction," said 'the officer. "You're to stop moving that barn until the judge says who it belongs to." Mike took the paper and ran into the house. "Mary!" he bawled. A rosy-cheeked girl of 17 came down stairs. "Git yer dickshunary an' find out phat a toomperairy injunchshun is." The girl hunted up the unabridged. "'Temporary/ " she said, "means 'for a time.' 'Injunction, a command, an order.'" "A arther, is it, 'fer a time.' All right." "What's the matter, pap?" asked Mary, anxiously, seeing the officer down in the road. "Niver yez moind, chile," responded her dad. "It's too dape fer gals like yez ter understhand." Mike returned to the scene of operations, and handed the paper back to the constable, who supposed as a matter of course work would stop. He returned to town. "B'ys," said Mike, "th' Coort has arthered us ter stop fer a time. Fill up yer poipes an*

INJUNCTION. WHITE. we'll sit 'round fer half an hour. It's th' law, yez know." Not exactly comprehending the philoso phy of it, but knowing their pay was running just the same, the men sat down on logs and boards, and whiled the time away telling yarns and smoking. The half hour up, Mike called time, and set them all to work again. The barn movers were making, pretty fair progress down the road toward Mike's farm, when the constable and another man drove up in a buggy. The new figure in the case was a lawyer, and he addressed Mike pretty roughly. "What do you mean by disobeying the order of the Court in this way?" he demand ed. "Ain't dis'beying no arther of th' Court," said Mike. "Didn't Burke here give you notice of a temporary injunction this morning?" "Aye; he did thot." "Don't you know what that means?" "Who be you?" asked Mike. "I'm the lawyer for the real estate com pany that bought your -lots and barn, and if you don't stop moving that barn you'll have to go to jail for contempt of Court.'' Mike advanced to the buggy threatening ly. "See here, Mister Lawyer." he said, "yez can't coom it over me with none of yer slienanagan. I know a thing or two as well as yez. Don't yez spose I know phat a toomperairy injunch;hun is?" "You don't act as if you do." "Well, I do. It manes an' arther fer a time, an' we knocked off work a whole half hour this marning because of it. Yez needn't coom poking yer papers under my nose no more. We're going to move this barn."