it of Mr. Hasbrook;
and that this had made him uncomfortable, as he knew nothing whatever
about his client. He had come to ask the Judge's advice in the matter.

No one could have taken the thing more graciously than did the great
man; he was all kindness and tact. In the first place, he said, he had
warned him in advance that enemies would attack him and slander him,
and that all kinds of subtle means would be used to influence him. And
he must understand that these rumours were part of such a campaign; it
made no difference how good a friend had brought them to him--how could
he know who had brought them to that friend?

The Judge ventured to hope that nothing that anyone might say could
influence him to believe that he, the Judge, would have advised him to
do anything improper.

"No," said Montague, "but can you assure me that there are no
interested parties behind Mr. Hasbrook?"

"Interested parties?" asked the other.

"I mean people connected with the Fidelity or other insurance
companies."

"Why, no," said the Judge; "I certainly couldn't assure you of that."

Montague looked surprised. "You mean you don't know?"

"I mean," was the answer, "that I wouldn't feel at liberty to tell,
even if I did know."

And Montague stared at him; he had not been prepared for this frankness.

"It never occurred to me," the other continued, "that that was a matter
which could make any difference to you."

"Why--" began Montague.

"Pray understand me, Mr. Montague," said the Judge. "It seemed to me
that this was obviously a just case, and it seemed so to you. And the
only other matter that I thought you had a right to be assured of was
that it was seriously meant. Of that I felt assured. It did not seem to
me of any importance that there might be interested individuals behind
Mr. Hasbrook. Let us suppose, for instance, that there were some
parties who had been offended by the administration of the Fidelity,
and were anxious to punish it. Could a lawyer be justified in refusing
to take a just case, simply because he knew of such private motives?
Or, let us assume an extreme case--a factional fight within the
company, as you say has been suggested to you. Well, that would be a
case of thieves falling out; and is there any reason why the public
should not reap the advantage of such a situation? The men inside the
company are the ones who would know first what is going on; and if you
saw a chance to use such an advantage i