there is an ordinance imposing a fine upon all
who sprinkle their lawns between eight o'clock in the morning and five
o'clock in the afternoon.

I declared in very vigorous English that I would never submit to any
such outrage, and my indignation touched the boiling point when, still
later in the day, a policeman came to my house and handed me a document
apprising me that I must give a good and sufficient bond for my
appearance the next morning before his honor, Justice Fatty, to answer
to the charge of having maliciously, etc., defied, disobeyed and broken
the ordinance, etc. I went at once to seek the counsel of Lawyer
Miles, for whose legal acumen and forensic eloquence I had harbored the
profoundest veneration ever since I had heard his prosecution of a man
named Tackleton for causing the death of neighbor Baylor's pet dog. I
recall that on that occasion there was not a dry eye in the court and
that even the defendant himself wept copiously; whereupon the presiding
justice, fearing that he might be unduly influenced by the emotion of
the auditors, ordered the constable to clear the room of everybody not
a party to the cause. At this supreme moment Lawyer Miles, with
streaming eyes and amid choking sobs, cried out: "Mercy, your honor; in
the name of the tenderest and holiest of human considerations I appeal
for mercy! Turn out the men-folks if you will, but spare, oh, spare
the women and children."

Ever since this memorable occasion I have regarded Lawyer Miles as the
foremost of living jurists, and it was the most natural thing in the
world that I should determine to confide to him any legal business of
mine that might arise--in which determination I was confirmed by a
suspicion that Lawyer Miles never charged his neighbors any fee for his
professional services.

I was not a little surprised when, having heard my story, Lawyer Miles
counselled me to plead guilty to the charge and to pay the regulation
fine, which together with the costs (so called), amounted to seven
dollars and fifty cents. It was in vain that I represented to Lawyer
Miles the outrage of punishing a man for seeking to beautify his
premises, and thereby to contribute to the comfort and delectation of
the public generally. Lawyer Miles took the narrow view that the
ordinance had been violated, and that, therefore, the fine should be
paid. "The ordinance may be an unwise one," said he. "In that event
we should elect a city council that wil