as jolly as such people always are, whether in sunshine or
storm.

It is much more agreeable to write about blizzards than to encounter
them.

LAW AND LATIN.

In the beginning of the settlement of the Minnesota valley, in the early
fifties, a man named Tom Cowan located at Traverse des Sioux. His name
will be at once recognized by all the old settlers. He was a Scotchman,
and had been in business in Baltimore. Financial difficulties had driven
him to the West, to begin life anew and grow up with the country. He was
a very well read and companionable man, and exceedingly bright by
nature, and at once became very popular with the people. His first
venture was in the fur trade, but not knowing anything about it, his
success was not brilliant. I remember that he once paid an immense price
for a very large black bearskin, thinking he had struck a bonanza. He
kept it on exhibition, until one day John S. Prince, who was an
experienced fur buyer, dropped in, and after listening to Cowan's eulogy
on his bear skin, quietly remarked: "He bear; not worth a d--n," which
decision induced Tom to abandon the fur trade.

There being no lawyer but one at Traverse des Sioux, and I having been
elected to the supreme bench, Mr. Cowan decided to study law, and open
an office for the practice of that profession. He accordingly proposed
that he should study with me, which idea I strongly encouraged, and
after about six weeks of diligent reading, principally devoted to the
statutes, I admitted him to the bar, and he fearlessly announced himself
as an attorney and counselor at law. In this venture he was phenomenally
successful. He was a fine speaker, made an excellent argument on facts,
and soon stood high in the profession. He took a leading part in
politics, was made register of deeds of his county, went to the
legislature, and was nominated for lieutenant governor of the state
after its admission into the Union; but, of course, in all his practice
he was never quite certain about the law of his cases. This deficiency
was made up by dash and brilliancy, and he got along swimmingly.

One day he came to my office and said: "Judgey, I am going to try a suit
at Le Sueur to-morrow that involves $2,500. It is the biggest suit we
have ever had in the valley, and I think it ought to have some Latin in
it, and I want you to furnish me with that ingredient." I said: "Tom,
what is it all about? I must know what kind of a suit it is before