n the county; for, in addition to the amount
of property and the nice questions of law which were involved, the two
sides had been severally espoused by two sister churches, and nearly
half the county was in attendance, either as witnesses or interested
spectators. Not only was every available corner in the little village
filled to overflowing with parties, witnesses, and their adherents, but
during the first week of the term the stable yards and road-sides were
lined with covered wagons and other vehicles, in or under which some
of those who had not been fortunate enough to obtain shelter in the
inn used to sleep, and "Briles's bar" under the tavern did a thriving
business.

As the case, however, wore on, and the weather became inclement, the
crowd dropped off somewhat, though a sufficient number still remained to
give an air of life to the little roadside village.

Certain of these visitors found the bar-room on the ground floor of
the tavern across the road more attractive than the court-room, and as
evening came the loud talking in that direction told that the visits had
not been fruitless.

Perfect order, however, prevailed in the court, until one evening one
of these visitors, a young man named Turkle, who had been spending the
afternoon at the bar, made his way into the court-room. He was clad in
a dingy, weather-stained overcoat and an old slouch hat. He sank into
a seat at the end of a bench near the door and, being very drunk, soon
began to talk aloud to those about him.

"Silence!" called the Sheriff over the heads of the crowd from his desk
in front, and those near the man cautioned him to stop talking. A moment
later, however, he began again. Again the Sheriff roared "Silence!" But
by this time the hot air of the court-room had warmed up Mr. Turkle, and
in answer to the warning of those about him, he declared in a maudlin
tone, that he "Warn't goin' to keep silence."

"I got 's much right to talk 's anyone, and I'ma goin' to talk 's much
's I please."

His friends tried to silence him, and the Sheriff made his way through
the crowd and endeavored to induce him to leave the court-room. But it
was to no purpose. Jim Turkle was much too "far gone" to know what he
was doing, though he was in a delightfully good humor. He merely hugged
the Sheriff and laughed drunkenly.

"Aleck, you jist go 'way f'om here. I ain't a-goin' to shet up. You shet
up yourself. I 'm a-goin' to talk all I please. Now, you hear