THE SHERIFFS BLUFF

By Thomas Nelson Page

Charles Scribner's Sons New York, 1908

Copyright, 1891, 1904, 1906

I

The county of H------ was an old Colonial county, and even as late asthe time of my story contained many Colonial relics. Among them were thecourt-house and the jail, and, at that time, the Judge and the Sheriff. 

The court-house was an old brick edifice of solemn and grayish brown, with a portico whose mighty columns might have stood before a templeof Minerva overlooking the Ęgean Sea. With its thick walls and massivebarred windows, it might have been thought the jail, until one saw thejail. The jail once seen stood alone. A cube of stone, each block hugeenough to have come from the Pyramid of Cheops; the windows, or ratherthe apertures, were small square openings, crossed and recrossedwith great bars of wrought iron, so massive that they might have beenfashioned on the forge of the Cyclops. Looking through them from theoutside, one saw just deep enough into the narrow cavern to see anotheriron grating, and catch a suspicion of the darkness beyond. The entrancewas but a slit letting into a stone-paved corridor on which opened thegrinding iron doors of the four small cells, each door a grate of hugeiron bars, heavily crossed, with openings just large enough to admita hand. The jail was built, not to meet the sentimental or any otherrequirements of a reasonable and humane age, but in that hard time whencrime was reckoned crime, when the very names of "gaol" and "prison"stood for something clear and unmistakable. 

The Judge of the circuit was himself a relic of the past, for his youthhad been cast among those great ones of the earth whose memory had comedown coupled with deeds so heroic and far-reaching, that even to thenext generation the actors appeared half enveloped and magnified in thehalo of tradition. His life had been one of high rectitude and dignity, to which habits of unusual studiousness and a great work on Executorshad added a reputation for vast learning, and in his old age both in hismanner and his habit he preserved a distance and a dignity of demeanorwhich lent dignity to the Bar, and surrounded him wherever he wentwith a feeling akin to awe. Though he had given up the queue and shortclothes, he still retained ruffles, or what was so closely akin to themthat the difference could scarcely be discerned. Tall, grave, and with alittle bend, not in the shoulders but in the neck; with white hair justlong enough to be brushed behind in a way to suggest the knot whichhad once appeared at the back; with calm, quiet eyes under bushy whiteeyebrows; a face of pinkish red inherited from Saxon ancestors, who oncelived in the sun and on the brine, and a mouth and chin which bespokedecision and self-respect in every line and wrinkle, wherever he movedhe produced an impression of one who had survived from a preceding age. Moreover, he was a man of heroic ideals, of Spartan simplicity, and ofinflexible discipline. 

If he had a weakness it was his susceptibility to feminine testimony. 

The county was a secluded one--a fitting field for such a judge. And thegreat meetings of the year were the sessions of the Circuit Court. 

The Judge's name was then on every lip, and his passage to thecourt-house was a procession. 

Everyone except those unfortunates who had come under his ban, or mightbe too far gone in drink to venture into his presence, drew up alongthe path from the tavern to bow to him and receive his courteous bow inreturn as he passed with slow and thoughtful step along, preceded by theSheriff and his deputies, and followed by the Bar and "the multitude. "

Whenever he entered the court or rose from the bench the lawyers stood. 

If he was impressive off the bench, on the bench he was imposing. 

At heart one of the kindest of men, he added to great natural dignity ahigh sense of the loft-iness of a position on the bench and preserved, with impartial and inflexible rigor, the strictest order in his court, ruling bar and attendants alike up to a high accountability. 

No one would any more have thought of taking a liberty with Judge Lomaxthan he would have done it with an old lion. Just one man, possibly, might have thought of it, but he would not have done it--and this wasAleck Thompson, the Sheriff of the county, a jovial man past middle age, a rubicund bachelor, who had courted half the girls in the county andwas intimate with more than half the people in the circuit. He wasdaring even to rashness. He had held the office of Sheriff--not so long, perhaps, as the Judge had sat on the bench, but, at least, since hefirst stood for the place; and he could hold it as long as he wished it. He was easily the most popular man in the county. He treated everybodywith unvarying joviality and indiscriminate generosity, and it was knownthat his income, though large, was, except so much as was absolutelynecessary for his support, distributed with impartial fairness among thepeople of his county, a part over the poker-table, a part over the bar, and the balance in other popular ways. He had a face that no one couldread, and bluffed as well with a pair of treys as with four aces. Buthe used to say that such a bluff was to be used rarely, and only onimportant occasions. 

Now and then some opposition to him would arise and a small headwaywould be made against him. As, for instance, after he advised SquireJefford's plump and comely daughter, Mary, not to marry Dick Creel, because Dick was too dissipated. There were some who said that theSheriff had designs himself on Sam Jefford's buxom, black-eyed daughter, while others held that he was afraid of young Dick, who was an amiableand popular young fellow, and that he did not want him to get too muchinfluence in the lower end of the county. However it was, Mary Jeffordnot only married her young lover, but sobered him, and as she was young, pretty, and ambitious, and worshipped her husband, Dick Creel at thenext election, to use the vernacular, "made cornsideruble show runnin'ag'inst the Sheriff, and give him cornsideruble trouble. " Still, Thompson was elected overwhelmingly, and few people believed MaryCreel's charge that the Sheriff had got Dick drunk on purpose to beathim. Thompson said, "Did n't anybody have to _git_ Dick drunk--the workwas t'other way. "

II

The session of the Circuit Court in the "------ year of theCommonwealth, " as the writs ran, and "in the sixteenth year of AleckThompson's Sheriffalty, " as that official used to say, was more thanusually important. The noted case of "_Dolittle et al. Vs. Dolittle'sExecutrix_" was tried at the autumn term of the court, and causedconsiderable excitement in the county; for, in addition to the amountof property and the nice questions of law which were involved, the twosides had been severally espoused by two sister churches, and nearlyhalf the county was in attendance, either as witnesses or interestedspectators. Not only was every available corner in the little villagefilled to overflowing with parties, witnesses, and their adherents, butduring the first week of the term the stable yards and road-sides werelined with covered wagons and other vehicles, in or under which someof those who had not been fortunate enough to obtain shelter in theinn used to sleep, and "Briles's bar" under the tavern did a thrivingbusiness. 

As the case, however, wore on, and the weather became inclement, thecrowd dropped off somewhat, though a sufficient number still remained togive an air of life to the little roadside village. 

Certain of these visitors found the bar-room on the ground floor ofthe tavern across the road more attractive than the court-room, and asevening came the loud talking in that direction told that the visits hadnot been fruitless. 

Perfect order, however, prevailed in the court, until one evening oneof these visitors, a young man named Turkle, who had been spending theafternoon at the bar, made his way into the court-room. He was clad ina dingy, weather-stained overcoat and an old slouch hat. He sank intoa seat at the end of a bench near the door and, being very drunk, soonbegan to talk aloud to those about him. 

"Silence!" called the Sheriff over the heads of the crowd from his deskin front, and those near the man cautioned him to stop talking. A momentlater, however, he began again. Again the Sheriff roared "Silence!" Butby this time the hot air of the court-room had warmed up Mr. Turkle, andin answer to the warning of those about him, he declared in a maudlintone, that he "Warn't goin' to keep silence. "

"I got 's much right to talk 's anyone, and I'ma goin' to talk 's much's I please. "

His friends tried to silence him, and the Sheriff made his way throughthe crowd and endeavored to induce him to leave the court-room. But itwas to no purpose. Jim Turkle was much too "far gone" to know what hewas doing, though he was in a delightfully good humor. He merely huggedthe Sheriff and laughed drunkenly. 

"Aleck, you jist go 'way f'om here. I ain't a-goin' to shet up. You shetup yourself. I 'm a-goin' to talk all I please. Now, you hear it. "

Then as if to atone for his rudeness, he caught the Sheriff roughly bythe arm and pulled him toward him:

"Aleck, how 's the case goin'? Is Mandy a goin' to win? Is that oldrascal rulin' right!"

The Sheriff urged something in a low voice, but Turkle would not besilenced. 

"Now you see thar, " he broke out with a laugh to those about him, "didn't I tell you Aleck wa' n 't nothin' but a' ol' drunkard? What d'you s'pose the ol' rascal wants me to do? He wants me to go over thereto the bar and git drunk like 'im, and I ain't goin' to do it. I neverdrink. I 've come here to see that my cousin Mandy's chil'ern gitstheir patrimony, and I ain' a goin' to 'sociate with these here drunkenfellows like Aleck Thompson. "

The Sheriff made a final effort. He spoke positively, but Turkle wouldnot heed. 

"Oh, 'Judge' be damned! You and I know that ol' fellow loves a dram jest's well 's the best of 'em--jest 's well 's you do. Look at his face. You think he got that drinkin' well-water! Bet yer he 's got a bottle in's pocket right now. "

A titter ran through the crowd, but was suddenly stopped. 

A quiet voice was heard from the other end of the court-room, and adeathly silence fell on the assemblage. 

"Suspend for a moment, gentlemen, if you please. Mr. Sheriff, bring thatperson to the bar of the Court. "

The crowd parted as if by magic, and the Sheriff led his drunkenconstituent to the bar, where his befuddled brain took in just enough ofthe situation to make him quiet enough. The Judge bent his sternest lookon him until he quailed. 

"Have you no more sense of propriety than to disturb a court of justicein the exercise of its high function?"

Turkle, however, was too drunk to understand this. He tried to steadyhimself against the bar. 

"I ain't is-turbed no Court of function, and anybody 't says so, Jedge, iz a liar. " He dragged his hand across his mouth and tried to lookaround upon the crowd with an air of drunken triumph, but he staggeredand would have fallen had not the Sheriff caught and supported him. 

The Judge's eyes had never left him. 

"Mr. Sheriff, take this intoxicated creature and confine him in thecounty gaol until the expiration of the term. The very existence of acourt of justice depends upon the observance of order. Order must bepreserved and the dignity of the Court maintained. "

There was a stir--half of horror--throughout the court-room. Put a manin that jail just for being tight!

Then the Sheriff on one side and his deputy on the other, led theculprit out, now sufficiently quiet and half whimpering. A considerableportion of the crowd followed him. 

Outside, the prisoner was sober enough, and he begged hard to be letoff and allowed to go home. His friends, too, joined in his petition andpromised to guarantee that he would not come back again during the termof court. But the Sheriff was firm. 

"No. The Judge told me to put you in jail and I 'm goin' to do it. " Hetook two huge iron keys from his deputy and rattled them fiercely. 

Turkle shrank back with horror. 

"You ain't goin' to put me in thar, Aleck! Not in that hole! Not justfor a little drop o' whiskey. It was _your_ whiskey, too, Aleck. I wasdrinkin' yo' health, Aleck. You know I was. "

"The Judge won't know anything about it. He 'll never think of itagain, " pleaded several of Turkle's friends. "You know he has ordered adrunken man put there before and never said any more about it--just toldyou to discharge him next day. "

Turkle stiffened up with hope. 

"Yes, Aleck. " He leaned on the Sheriff's arm heavily. "He 's drunkhimself--I don't mean that, I mean _you 're_ drunk--oh, no--I mean _I'm_drunk. Everybody 's drunk. "

"Yes, you 've gone and called me a drunkard before the Court. Now I 'mgoin' to show you. " Thompson rattled his big keys again savagely. 

Turkle caught him with both hands. 

"Oh, Aleck, don't talk that a-way, " he pleaded in a tremulous voice. "Don't talk that a-way!" He burst into tears and flung his arms aroundthe Sheriff's neck. He protested that he had never, seen him take adrink in his life; he would go and tell the Judge so; if necessary, hewould swear to it on a Bible. 

"Aleck, you know I love you better than anybody in this world--except mywife and children. Yes, better than them--better than Jinny. Jinny willtell you that herself. Oh! Aleck!" He clung to him and sobbed!

His friends indorsed this and declared that they would bring him back ifthe Judge demanded his presence. They would "promise to bring him backdead or alive at any time he sent for him. "

As Turkle and his friends were always warm supporters of the Sheriff, afact of which they did not fail to remind him, Thompson was not averseto letting him off, especially as he felt tolerably sure that the Judgewould, as they said, forget all about the matter, or, if he rememberedit, would, as he had done before, simply order him to discharge theprisoner. So, after dragging the culprit to the jail door to scare himwell and make his clemency the more impressive, he turned him over tothe others on condition that he would mount his mule and go straighthome and not come back again during the term. This Turkle was so glad todo that he struck out at once for the stable at what Thompson called a"turkey trot, " and five minutes later he was galloping down the road, swinging mightily on his sorrel mule, but whipping for life. 

That night Thompson was much toasted about the court-house for hishumanity. Several of his admirers, indeed, got into somewhat the samecondition that Turkle had been in. 

Even Dick Creel, who had come to court that day, lapsed from virtue andfell a victim to the general hilarity. 

III

The next morning when court was opened, the Judge was even more thanusually dignified and formal. The customary routine of the morningwas gone through with; the orders of the day before were read andwere signed by the Judge with more than wonted solemnity. The Clerk, abenignant-looking old man with a red face and a white beard, took up hisbook and adjusted his glasses to call the pending docket: the case of"_Dolittle vs. Dolittle's Ex'ex. _, " and the array of counsel drew theirchairs up to the bar and prepared for the work of the day, when theJudge, taking off his spectacles, turned to the Sheriff's desk. 

"Mr. Sheriff, bring in that unfortunate inebriate whom I sentenced toconfinement in the gaol yesterday. The Court, while sensible of theimperative necessity of protecting itself from all unseemly disorder andpreserving its dignity undiminished, nevertheless always leans to theside of mercy. The Court trusts that a night's incarceration may havesufficiently sobered and chastened the poor creature. The Court willtherefore give him a brief admonition and will then discharge him. "

The Judge sat back in his large arm-chair and waited benignantly withhis gaze resting placidly in front of him, while a deathly silence fellon the crowd and every eye in the courthouse was turned on the Sheriff. 

Thompson, standing at his desk, was staring at the Judge with jawdropped and a dazed look like a man who had suddenly to face judgment. He opened his lips twice as if to speak, then turned and went slowly outof the court-house like a man in a dream, while those left behind lookedin each other's eyes, some half scared and others more than half amused. 

Outside, Thompson stopped just between two of the great pillars. He rammed his hands deep in his pockets and gazed vacantly over thecourt-green and up the road. 

"What will he do with you! Remove you!" asked two or three friends whohad slipped out of the door behind him and now stood about him. 

"He 'll put me in jail--_and_ remove me. "

*****

"No matter if he says black 's white and white 's black, don't you openyour mouth or you 'll get it. It 's much as I can do to keep you out ofjail this minute. "

"But, Sheriff--! But, Aleck--! Just wait a minute! I don't----"

The next instant he was inside the courthouse and the Sheriff wasmarching him up the aisle between the upturned faces. He planted him atthe bar immediately before the Court, pulling off his hat in such a wayas to drag his hair over his face and give him an even more dishevelledappearance than before. Then he moved around to his own desk, keepinghis eye fixed piercingly on the astonished Creel's bewildered face. Agasp went over the court-room, and the Bar stared at the prisoner inblank amazement. 

The Judge alone appeared oblivious of his presence. He had satabsolutely silent and motionless since he had given the order to theSheriff to produce the prisoner, his face expressive of deep reflection. Now he withdrew his eye from the ceiling. 

"Oh!"

With impressive deliberation he put on his large gold-rimmed spectacles;sat up in his chair; assumed his most judicial expression, which satcuriously on his benignant face, and looked severely down upon theculprit. The court-room shivered and Thompson's round face grewperceptibly whiter; but his eyes, after a single glance darted at theJudge, never left the face of the man at the bar. 

The next second the Judge began to speak, and Thompson, and thecourt-room with him, heaved a deep sigh of relief. 

"Young man, " said the Judge, "you have committed an act of grievousimpropriety. You have been guilty of one of the most reprehensibleoffences that any citizen of a Commonwealth founded upon order andjustice could commit, an act of such flagrant culpability that theCourt, in the maintenance of its dignity and in the interest of theCommonwealth found it necessary to visit upon you punishment of greatseverity and incarcerate you in the gaol usually reserved for the mostdepraved malefactors. Intemperance is one of the most debasing ofvices. It impairs the intellect and undermines the constitution. Tothe inhibition of Holy Writ is added the cumulative if inferentialprohibition of the Law, which declines to consider inebriety, thoughextreme enough in degree to impair if not destroy the reasoning faculty, in mitigation of crime of the highest---- dignity. If you had no belovedfamily to whom your conduct would be an affliction, yet you have a dutyto yourself and to the Commonwealth which you have flagrantly violated. To shocking inebriety you added the even grosser misdemeanor ofdisturbing a Court in the exercise of its supreme function: the calm, orderly, and deliberate administration of justice between the citizensof the Commonwealth. "

"But, Judge--?" began the young man. 

A sharp cough from the Sheriff interrupted him and he glanced at theSheriff to meet a menacing shake of the head. 

The strangeness of the scene and the impressive solemnity of the Judgeso wrought upon the young man that he began to whimper. He looked at theJudge and once more opened his mouth to speak, but the Sheriff, called, sharply:

"Silence!"

Creel glanced appealingly from the Judge to the Sheriff, only to meetanother imperative shake of the latter's head and a warning scowl. Thenthe Judge proceeded, in a tone that showed that he was not insensible tohis altered manner. 

"The Court, always mindful of that mercy whose quality 'is not strained, but droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath, 'trusts that your recent incarceration, though brief, may prove adequateto the exigencies of the occasion. It hopes that the incarcerationof one night in the common gaol may prove in case of a young man likeyourself sufficiently efficacious to deter you from the repetition ofso grave a misdemeanor, and at the same time not crush too much thatgenerous spirit of youth which in its proper exercise may prove soadvantageous to its possessor, and redound so much to the benefit ofthe Commonwealth. The order of the Court, therefore, is that the Sheriffdischarge you from further imprisonment. 

"Mr. Sheriff, conduct the young man to the door, caution him against arecurrence of his offence, and direct him toward his home. 

"We will now proceed to call the docket. "

The court-room with another gasp broke into a buzz, which was instantlyquelled by the sharp command of the Sheriff for silence and order in thecourt. 

"But, Judge--" began Creel again, "I don't understand--"

What he did not understand was not heard, for Thompson seized theprisoner before he could finish his sentence, and, with a grip of steelon his arm, hustled him down the aisle and out of the court-room. 

A good many persons poured out of the court-room after them and withsubdued laughter followed the Sheriff and his charge across the green. Thompson, however, did not wait for them. The young man appearedinclined to argue. But the Sheriff gave him no time. Hurrying him downthe walk, he unhitched his horse for him and ordered him to mount. 

"But, Sheriff--Mr. Thompson, I 'm darned if I understand what it is allabout. "

"You were drunk, " said Thompson--"flagrantly inebriated. Go home. Didn't you hear the Judge?"

"Yes, I heard him. He 's doty. I might have been drunk, but I 'm darnedif I slept in jail last night--I slept in----"

"I 'm darned if you did n't, " said the Sheriff. "The Judge has ruledit so, and so you did. Now go home and don't you come back here againduring this term, or you will sleep in jail again. "

"That old Judge is doty, " declared the young man with a tone ofconviction. 

"So much the worse for you if you come back here. Go home now, just asquick as you can. "

Creel reflected for a moment. 

"Well, it beats my time. I 'll tell you what I 'll do, Mr. Thompson, " hesaid, half pleadingly. "I 'll go home and stay there if you will promisenot to tell my wife I was in jail. "

"I promise you, " said Aleck, solemnly. "I give you my word I won't. "

"And what 's more, " continued Creel, "if you 'll keep anybody else fromdoing it, I 'll vote for you next time for Sheriff. "

"I promise you that, too, " said Aleck, "and if anybody says you werethere, let me know, and I 'll come up there and--and tell her you weren't. I can't do any more than that, can I?"

"No, you can't do any more than that, " admitted Creel, sadly, and, leaning over and shaking hands with the Sheriff cordially for the firsttime in some years, he rode away in profound dejection. 

"Well, I 've got to face Mary, " he said, "and I reckon I might as welldo it. Whiskey is a queer thing. I must have been a lot drunker than Ithought I was, because if the Court had n't ruled it, I would have swornI slept in that there wing room last night. "

"Well, that 's the best bluff I ever put up, " said Thompson to thethrong about him as he turned back to the court-house. 

The Sheriff's bluff became the topic of the rest of the term. Suchaudacity, such resourcefulness had never been known. Thompson becamemore popular than ever, and his re-election the following spring wasadmitted to be certain. 

"That Aleck Thompson 's the smartest man that is, " declared one of hisdelighted adherents. 

Thompson himself thought so, too, and his imitation of the Judge, ofDick Creel, and of himself in court became his most popular story. 

Only the old Judge moved among the throng of tittering laymen calm, dignified, and unsuspecting. 

"If ever he gets hold of you, Aleck, " said one of that worthy'sworshippers, "there 's likely to be a vacancy in the office of sheriff. "

"He 'll put me in jail, " laughed Aleck. "Dick Creel says he 's kind o'doty. "

IV

The Court was nearing the end of the term, _Dolittle et al. Vs. Dolittle's Executrix_, with all its witnesses and all its bitternesses, had resulted in a mistrial, and the sister churches were wider apartthan ever. The rest of the docket was being daily disposed of. 

The Sheriff was busy one day telling his story to an admiring throng onthe court-green when someone casually observed that Mrs. Dick Creel hadgot off the train that morning. 

The Sheriff's face changed a little. 

"Where is she!"

"Waitin' in the tavern parlor. "

"What is she doing here! What is she doing in there!"

"Jest a settin' and a waitin'. "

"I 'spect she is waitin' for you, Aleck!" hazarded one of his friends. 

There was a burst of laughter, for Squire Jefford's daughter, Mary, wasknown to be "a woman of her own head. "

The Sheriff laughed, too; but his laughter was not as mirthful as usual. He made an ineffectual attempt to keep up his jollity. 

"I reckon I 'll go and see Mary, " he said at length. 

He left the group with affected cheerfulness, but his heart was heavierthan he liked to admit. He made his way to the "ladies' parlor, " asthe little sitting-room in the south wing of the rambling old tavern, overlooking the court-green was called, and opened the door. 

On one side of the wood fire, in a stiff, high-backed chair sat a youngwoman, in her hat and wrap and gloves, "jest a settin' and a waitin'. "She was a well-made and comely young woman under thirty, with a ruddyface, smooth hair and bright eyes that the Sheriff knew could both smileand snap. Her head was well set on rather plump shoulders; her mouth waswell formed, but was now close drawn, and her chin was strong enough toshow firmness--too much firmness, as Thompson mentally decided when hecaught its profile. 

The Sheriff advanced with an amiable smile. He was so surprised. 

"Why, you here, Mary! When did you come?" His tone was affable and eventestified pleasure. But Mary did not unbend. She was as stiff as thechair she sat in. Without turning her head she turned her eyes andlooked at him sideways. 

"_Mrs. Creel_. "

There was a glint in her black eyes that meant war, and Thompson'scountenance fell. 

"Ah-ur-Mrs. Creel. "

"I did n't know as you 'd know me!" She spoke quietly, her eyes still onhim sidewise. 

"Not know you! Why, of course, I know you. I don't forget the prettygirls--leastways, the prettiest girl in the county. Your father andI------"

"I heard you made a mistake about my husband and Jim Turkle. I thoughtmaybe you might think I was _Mrs_. Turkle. "

There was the least perceptible lifting of her shoulders and drawingdown of her mouth, but quite enough to suggest Jenny Turkle 's highshoulders and grim face. 

The Sheriff tried to lighten the conversation. 

"Oh! Come now, Mary, you must n't get mad about that. It was all a joke. I was comin' right up after court adjourned to tell you about it--and--. It was the funniest thing! You 'd 'a' died laughing if you 'd been hereand seen----"

"I heard they was all laughin' about it. _I_ ain't so easy to amuse. "

"Oh! Yes, you would, too, " began Thompson, cajolingly. "If you 'dseen----"

"What time does Court adjourn!" she asked, quietly and irrelevantly, "Oh, not for two or three--not for _several_ days yet--Probably 't willhold over till well into next week. But if you 'd seen----"

"I mean what time does it let out _to-day?_"

Thompson's face fell again. 

"Why--ah--about--ah--Why! What do you want to know for!"

"I want to see the Judge. " Her voice was dead level. 

"What about!"

"About business!"

"What business!"

"_Co'te_ business, " with cold irony. 

"You don't mean that you 're goin' to----!"

He paused without framing the rest of the question. 

She suddenly stood up and flamed out. 

"Yes, I am--that 's just what I am goin' to do. That 's what I 've comehere for. You may take a liberty with the Judge--he 's doty; but youcan't take a liberty with _me_--I 'm Squire Jefford's daughter, and I 'mgoin' to show you. "

She was facing him now, and her black eyes were darting fire. Thompsonwas quite staggered. 

"Why, Mary! I am surprised at you. Your father's old friend--who has hadyou on his knee many a time. I am shocked and surprised--and mortifiedand--astonished--and mortified----"

"You 've done said that one once, " she said, icily. 

"Why, Mary, I thought we were friends--" he began. But she cut in onhim. 

"Friends!" She spoke with contempt. "You 've had it in for Dick eversince he was a boy. " Her voice suddenly broke and the tears sprang toher eyes and rolled down her cheeks. 

"Why, Mary--no such thing--I assure you--Dick and I are the best offriends--_dear_ friends. "

Her sniff was more forcible than words. She wiped her eyes and looked athim with freezing contempt. 

"I 'm a fool! And I don't want you to be _Mary_-in' me, either. If Dickchooses to let you get him drunk and make a beast and a fool of him anddrag him up before the Court like a--a--like that drunkard, Jim Turkle, what don't know how to behave himself seemly in Court, and Circuit Courtat that--he may; but I 'll let you know, _I'm_ not goin' to do it. Idon't mean the Judge to think my husband's a thing like that. I mean toset him right. And I 'll tell him you are nothing but an old gambler whospends your time ruinin' young men, and braggin' as how you can bluffanybody. "

"Mary!--ur--Mrs. Creel!" gasped the Sheriff. 

She stalked by him wiping her eyes, and marched straight to the door;but the Sheriff was too quick for her. His office, his reputation, everything hung on his pacifying her. He sprang to the door and, standing with his back against it, began to apologize in so humble atone that even the angry wife could not but listen to him. 

He said everything that any mortal could have said, and declared that hewould do anything on earth that she might ask. 

She reflected, and he began to hope again. When their eyes met, herswere still hard, but they were calmer. 

"I know you think you are making a fool of me, " she began, and then ashe protested she shut him up with a sharp gesture. 

"Yes, you do, you think so; but you are not. There is but one thing Iwill accept in apology. "

"What is that!"

"You are to make Dick your deputy. "

"But, M----"

"I knew you would n't. Stand aside. " She gave a sweep of the arm. 

"But, Mary!"

"Stand aside, I say--I 'd rather have you removed anyway. "

"But, Mary, just listen----"

"Stand aside, or I will call. " She straightened herself and looked pasthim, as if listening. 

"But, Mary, do be reasonable!"

She opened her mouth as if to cry out. The Sheriff threw up both hands. 

"Mary, please--For kingdom's sake, don't! What unreasonable creatureswomen are!"

"You 'd better let women alone. One is as much as you can manage now. "She spoke witheringly. "I give you one more chance. "

"More than I can manage. You know Dick will get drunk----"

"Not unless you make him. Who was drunk at that barbecue at Jones'sCross Roads last summer!"

"Oh, Mary!"

"Who set up till after Sunday mornin' playin' kyards--. Yes, _gamblin'_the last night of last County Cote!"

"Oh, Mary!--All right. I lay down my hand. "

She drew paper and pencil from her little bag and held them out to him. 

"Write it down. "

"Ain't my word good enough!"

"If you mean to do it, why are you afraid to write it!"

"I 'm not afraid. "

"Then write it. " She held the paper to him with outstretched arm. 

"What shall I write!"

"Write what I say: 'I Aleck Thompson, promise and bind myself if Iremain in office for another term to appoint my _dear_ friend, DickCreel'--underscore that--'my first deputy, and to keep him in as long ashe keeps sober and attends to his business. ' Now sign it. "

"What consideration do I get for this!" Thompson looked up from thepaper at her ca-jolingly. She met his gaze with a little flash. 

"Oh! I forgot the consideration, " she murmured, "and I Squire Jefford'sdaughter, too!

"Write: 'The consideration for the above is the love I bear theaforesaid Richard Creel, and the fear I have that his wife will tell theJudge what a smart Aleck I am. '"

"Mary, you don't want me to write that!"

"Them very words. I little more forgot the consideration. "

The paper was written. 

She glanced out of the window. 

"Now I want a witness. I see the court is broken up. "

"Tain't necessary. "

"I want a witness, and I 'm goin' to _have_ him. "

"Who!"

"The Judge. "

"Look here, Mary----"

"I 'm goin' to have him. You come and introduce me. "

"Mary, are you after all goin' to----"

She met his gaze frankly. 

"No--unless you go back on me. If you do, I 'll tell him and show himthe paper; and what 's more, I 'll show it all around this county. "

A flash of genuine admiration sprang into the Sheriff's eyes. 

"Mary, you ought to have been a man, or--Mrs. Aleck Thompson. "

The paper was signed and witnessed.