ason the
Treasury have declined to take up the case, which is in the nature of
a private prosecution on the part of Mr. Lewis.

_'Call John Lewis.'_

At this point Mr. Prescott laid down his brief and leant back in his
chair. The remainder of the document consisted of the proofs or
statements of the evidence which each witness was prepared to give.
Much of it would, of course, be merely a repetition of the narrative
contained in the first part. It could therefore be looked at some
other time.

He laid down his brief and began to think over its contents. It was a
case of circumstantial evidence, evidence which all seemed to point
one way, and to fix a horrible crime upon a young girl whom he
remembered as a pretty child.

Though not a native of Mynyddshire, Charles Prescott was familiar with
the district. He had, in fact, been educated at a grammar school in
the next county, and it was while he was there that he had made the
acquaintance of the Owens.

His favourite schoolfellow, a boy a few years younger than himself,
came from the little watering-place, and a summer seldom passed
without Prescott spending some part of his holiday at his friend's
home. There it was that he had seen old Owen, the parish rector, and
had caught a few passing glimpses of the little Eleanor.

Hence his interest in the present case, and the unusual feeling
of reluctance with which he approached his task. He had not been
to Porthstone for five years now. The schoolfellows were still
friendly--in fact, they saw a good deal of each other still, having
taken up the same profession and joined the same circuit. But Prescott
had got on much better than his friend. He had had five years' start
to begin with, and his was that firm, persevering temperament which
ensures success to the lawyer. He had therefore risen steadily, and
was already making an income of twelve or fifteen hundred a year,
while his younger and erratic friend had but gained a precarious
foothold in the profession by dint of a few brilliant speeches, which
covered a very superficial acquaintance with the law.

'I wonder who will have the defence!' meditated Prescott. 'It will
surely run to something more than a docker!'

A docker, it should be explained, is the name for a retainer which is
handed direct from a prisoner in the dock to a counsel, without the
intervention of a solicitor. It is the resource of the poorer class of
offenders, who can scrape