A sallow-faced young man, in his shirt-sleeves, was seated at a table littered with newspapers and magazines, engaged in the task of putting new strings on a battered guitar.  As his visitor entered he looked up in surprise and laid down the instrument.

“I want to see Colby, the lawyer,” began Uncle John, regarding the disordered room with strong disapproval.

“You are seeing him,” retorted the young man, with a fleeting smile, “and I’ll bet you two to one that if you came here on business you will presently go away and find another lawyer.”

“Why?” questioned Mr. Merrick, eyeing him more closely.

“I don’t impress people,” explained Colby, picking up the guitar again.  “I don’t inspire confidence.  As for the law, I know it as well as anyone—­which is begging the question—­but when I’m interviewed I have to admit I’ve had no experience.”

“No practice?”

“Just a few collections, that’s all I sleep on that sofa yonder, eat at a cafeteria, and so manage to keep body and soul together.  Once in a while a stranger sees my sign and needs a lawyer, so he climbs the stairs.  But when he meets me face to face he beats a hasty retreat.”

As he spoke, Colby tightened a string and began strumming it to get it tuned.  Uncle John sat down on the one other chair in the room and thought a moment.

“You’ve been admitted to the bar?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.  Graduate of the Penn Law School.”

“Then you know enough to defend an innocent man from an unjust accusation?”

Colby laid down the guitar.

“Ah!” said he, “this grows interesting.  I really believe you have half a mind to give me your case.  Sir, I know enough, I hope, to defend an innocent man; but I can’t promise, offhand, to save him, even from an unjust accusation.”

“Why not?  Doesn’t law stand for justice?”

“Perhaps; in the abstract.  Anyhow, there’s a pretty fable to that effect.  But law in the abstract, and law as it is interpreted and applied, are not even second cousins.  To be quite frank, I’d rather defend a guilty person than an innocent one.  The chances are I’d win more easily.  Are you sure your man is innocent?”

Uncle John scowled.

“Perhaps I’d better find another lawyer who is more optimistic,” he said.

“Oh, I’m full of optimism, sir.  My fault is that I’m not well known in the courts and have no arrangement to divide my fees with the powers that be.  But I’ve been observing and I know the tricks of the trade as well as any lawyer in California.  My chief recommendation, however, is that I’m eager to get a case, for my rent is sadly overdue.  Why not try me, just to see what I’m able to do?  I’d like to find that out myself.”

“This is a very important matter,” asserted Mr. Merrick.

“Very.  If I’m evicted for lack of rent-money my career is crippled.”

“I mean the case is a serious one.”