ere was quite sufficient light to distinguish the pale
and interesting features of a young female, dressed in faded and scanty
mourning, and accompanied by a respectable-looking old man with white
hair, and a countenance deeply furrowed by age and grief.

"I told you, Miss Woodley," said the attorney, "that this gentleman would
decline the brief, especially with such a fee"--

"It is not the fee, man!" I observed, for I was somewhat moved by the
appealing dejection exhibited by the white-haired man and his timid
grand-daughter; "but what chance can I have of establishing this person's
right--if right she have--to the estate she claims, thus suddenly called
upon to act without previous consultation; and utterly ignorant, except
as far as this I perceive hastily-scrawled brief will instruct me, both
of the nature of the plaintiff's claim and of the defence intended to be
set up against it?"

"If you would undertake it, sir," said the young woman with a tremulous,
hesitating voice and glistening eyes, "for _his_ sake"--and she glanced
at her aged companion--"who will else be helpless, homeless."

"The blessing of those who are ready to perish will be yours, sir," said
the grandfather with meek solemnity, "if you will lend your aid in this
work of justice and mercy. We have no hope of withstanding the masterful
violence and wrong of wicked and powerful men except by the aid of the
law, which we have been taught will ever prove a strong tower of defence
to those who walk in the paths of peace and right."

The earnestness of the old man's language and manner, and the pleading
gentleness of the young woman, forcibly impressed me; and, albeit, it was
a somewhat unprofessional mode of business, I determined to hear their
story from their own lips, rather than take it from the scrawled brief,
or through the verbal medium of their attorney.

"You have been truly taught," I answered; "and if really entitled to the
property you claim, I know of no masterful men that in this land of
England can hinder you from obtaining possession of it. Come to my hotel
in about an hour and a-half from hence: I shall then have leisure to hear
what you have to say. This fee," I added, taking the two guineas from the
hand of the attorney, who still held the money ready for my acceptance,
"you must permit me to return. It is too much for you to pay for losing
your cause; and if I gain it--but mind I do not promise to take it into
court unless I am