"Who is that man who wants to go on with the case?"
"Oh, that's Bill Cartwright, one of the cheap, shyster lawyers always
hanging around here looking for a job. His boast is he never lost a
suit. Guess the other fellow skipped because he thought he had a better
scoop somewhere else. These poor devils from the mountains never have
any money to pay a lawyer. Court appoints 'em."
With the appointment of the prisoner's attorney the crowd in the
court-room craned their necks in closer attention, one man standing on
his chair for a better view until a deputy ordered him down. They knew
what the charge was. It was the defence they all wanted to hear. That
had been the topic of conversation around the tavern stoves of Bug
Hollow for months past.
Cartwright began by asking that the mail-carrier be recalled. The little
man again took the stand.
The methods of these police-court lawyers always interest me. They are
gamblers in evidence, most of them. They take their chances as the cases
go on; some of them know the jury--one or two is enough; some are
learned in the law--more learned, often, than the prosecutor, who is a
Government appointee with political backers, and now and then one of
them knows the Judge, who is also a political appointee and occasionally
has his party to care for.
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