d hall which appears
to have been the best thing that the architectural talent of the
nineteenth century was capable of producing.

To the right of the door on entering is a statue of the architect of a
pile of which England has certainly no cause to feel proud, and here, a
black bag full of papers in his hand, stood Mr. John Short, wearing that
air of excitement upon his countenance which is so commonly to be seen in
the law courts.

"Here you are," he said, "I was beginning to be afraid that you would be
late. We are first on the list, you know; the judge fixed it specially
to suit the convenience of the Attorney-General. He's on the other side,
you know," he added, with a sigh. "I'm sure I don't know how poor James
will get on. There are more than twenty counsel against him, for all the
legatees under the former will are represented. At any rate, he is well
up in his facts, and there does not seem to me to be very much law in
the case."

Meanwhile, they had been proceeding up the long hall till they came to a
poky little staircase which had just been dug out in the wall, the
necessity for a staircase at that end of the hall, whereby the court
floor could be reached having, to all appearance, originally escaped the
attention of the architect. On getting to the top of the staircase they
turned to the left and then to the left again. If they had had any doubt
as to which road they should take it would have been speedily decided by
the long string of wigs which were streaming away in the direction of
Divorce Court No. 1. Thicker and thicker grew the wigs; it was obvious
that the _cause celebre_ of Meeson v. Addison and Another would not want
for hearers. Indeed, Augusta and her friends soon realised the intensity
of the public interest in a way that was as impressive as it was
disagreeable, for just past the Admiralty Court the passage was entirely
blocked by an enormous mass of barristers; there might have been five
hundred or more of them. There they were, choked up together in their
white-wigged ranks, waiting for the door of the court to be opened. At
present it was guarded by six or eight attendants, who, with the help of
a wooden barrier, attempted to keep the surging multitude at bay--while
those behind cried, "Forward!" and those in front cried "Back!"

"How on earth are we going to get through?" asked Augusta, and at
that moment Mr. John Short caught hold of an attendant who was
struggling about in the skirt