Epoch the Fourth
CHAPTER XIII
WHERE THE WEAK MUST BE STRONG

THE TRIAL was called for early June, and Baptiste reached the city a week or ten days before the time set. He had become very friendly with the Negro lawyer who was conducting his case. He also secured a Gregory lawyer, the one who had conducted the contest case. When he arrived in the city, the lawyer advised that, inasmuch as they had a spare bedroom at his home, and that it would be imperative for them to be close to discuss various phases of the prosecution, he could have the room if he liked. So he accepted it.

It so happened that the lawyer's home was located in the same block on Vernon Avenue as was the McCarthys, and on the same side of the street. Moreover, it had been built at the same time as had that of the McCarthys, and was very much like in appearance the one in which they were living.

One afternoon a few days before the trial, while lingering at the bar of the Keystone Hotel, Baptiste was approached by Glavis, who invited him to a table nearby, where they were very much alone. He ordered the drinks, and when they were served he began:

“Now, Baptiste, it seems we ought to be able to get together on this case without going into court.”.

"Yes?" replied Baptiste, regarding the other noncommittally.

“Yes, I think we could, and should. I think you and Orlean ought to be able to console your differences without such an extreme."

"You think so?"

“Why, I do. Orlean has always ah rather loved you, Baptiste, and I think you two could make up."

“But this is not between Orlean and me, Glavis. You seem to misunderstand. It is between N. Justine McCarthy and me."

“Of course, but it is over Orlean. You have sued father for this sum, a sum you know he cannot pay in the event you should secure judgment. So there would be nothing left for you but to remand him to jail, which seems to be your desire."

“Possibly so." The other was still noncommittal.

“Then why not you and I get together on this proposition before the trial is called?"

“I don't see as I can oblige you, Glavis. There comes a time when compromise is impossible, only vindication can suffice. And it's vindication that I want now and, regret to advise, am determined to have."

“That seems rather severe, Baptiste."

"Why so?"

“Well, you see, I understand that the old man kinda er, gave you the worst of it, but you ought to forget some things. Look at it from a broad viewpoint. See how expensive it is going to be, and all that."

“I considered all that before I went into it, Glavis," replied Baptiste calmly.

“Well, now, Baptiste, I want to stop this thing before it goes to court. If you had of kinda flattered the old man a little in the beginning as I did, all would have been well."

“Why should I have done so when I didn't feel to?”

“Oh, Baptiste, you are so severe!”

“When a man has suffered as I have, it is time to be severe, my friend. For your own benefit, I will say that I do not trust your father-in-law. I do not love him and never have. If it wasn't because I wish to observe and subserve to the law of the land, I would have killed him long ago. Even when I think of it now, my bitterness is so great at times that I must repel the inclination to strike him down for the coward he is. So if that's all, we will call the meeting to an end," so saying he arose, strode toward the bar and ordered drinks for both. He drank his with a gulp when served, and turned and left the saloon.

Glavis proceeded to his lawyer, and advised him of his inability to dissuade the plaintiff.

“Couldn’t dissuade him, eh?”

“Couldn’t do a thing!”

“That’s too bad. It might be to your advantage if you could settle this case out of court. When will your father- in-law be in?"

“I’m looking for him here in a day or so, now."

“M-m." The attorney was thoughtful. “This is rather an unusual case," he resumed,” and I have been studying the complaint of the plaintiff. The old man, it seems to me, committed some very grave blunders."

"You think so?"

“Quite obvious. And while it will be difficult for the plaintiff to secure a judgment in such a case; it is, however, apparent that the sympathy of the court will be against your father-in-law in the proceedings."

Glavis was uncomfortable.

“Now I take notice here that the plaintiff states that his wife drew a check for two hundred dollars unknown to her husband, and that the Reverend had it cashed. That may be regular, but it will not help her father's case. Again, he complains that her father influenced the girl to sell a quarter section of land for less than one-tenth what it cost the plaintiff. Of course these are technicalities that while they cannot justify a judgment will win the sympathy of the jury. What the plaintiff must show, however, is that his father-in-law actually was the direct cause of and did alienate the affections of his wife. Such a case is not without parallel, but it is uncommon. A father alienating the affections of his daughter.

“Now where is your sister-in-law?”

“At home.'

“Wish you'd bring her down. This is a complicated case, and we've got to conduct it with directness. She can be of great assistance in extricating her father from this predicament."

“All right, sir. When shall I bring her? "

“Oh, any time that is convenient. Tomorrow morning at nine will perhaps be the best. And, now, say! Have you any idea who the plaintiff is going to use as witnesses? "

“Why, I think he plans to bring his grandmother from what I can hear, for one."

“His grandmother? What does she know about it? "

“Well, she was in the house when my father-in-law went on the visit and the girl came away with him."

“I see. I'd like to know just what passed and what she heard and will testify to. I wonder whether she will testify that she overheard your father-in-law abusing this Baptiste to his wife? "

“I really don't know."

"Who else?"

“I heard something about him going to bring a doctor down, and also a lawyer."

"The doctor, eh?" He shook his head then a little dubiously. “This physician attended the girl while she was confined?”

“I think so."

“M-m. I see here where we have recorded that your father-in-law claims that the girl was neglected; didn't have proper medical attention. What about this? Have you any knowledge as to how many visits this doctor made to the bedside of this girl when she was sick? Any knowledge of what kind of bill was rendered by him? "

“I hear that his bill amounted to something like two hundred dollars."

“Two hundred! Great Scott! And for a dead baby! Gee! We'll have to keep away from neglect as an excuse. That's a fact. No jury will believe such a statement if that fellow shows where he's paid such a bill as that! "

Glavis shifted uneasily. He was seeing another side of the controversy. Before he had only seen one side of it, and that side was as the Reverend had had him see it.

“You send or bring the girl down here tomorrow. It will be up to her to keep her father out of jail, that's all. It will be up to her to convince the court that she never loved this man, that all he did for her was by persuasion, and that her father only followed her instructions. In short, it's almost directly up to her; for the plaintiff has certainly got the goods on her dad if he can prove that she ever loved him."

Glavis was much disturbed when he went home. For the first time he was able to appreciate the full circumstances. It would be up to Orlean to save her father, and that he could see. He would take her to the lawyer, and have her carefully drilled. The success for them depended on her; on her falsifying to the court, for it could not be otherwise. For her to testify that she did not love and had never loved Jean Baptiste, he knew would be a deliberate falsehood. It worried him, but he had to go through with it.

He accompanied her to the lawyer's office as agreed, and there she was made to understand the gravity of the situation, that everything depended on her statements, and her statements only.

Her father arrived the following day, and at the attorney's office in company with Orlean and Glavis, he was impressed with the nature of the defense. All were finally drilled in their course of action.

That night Orlean faced the most serious period in her life. She was a weak woman and her weakness had been the cause of it all. The trial was approaching and the result was up to her. Her father's freedom, his continuance in the pulpit, his vindication of the action he had taken depended upon her, and her strength.

And that strength for on that day she would have to be strong, depended upon a lie.