At two o’clock Mr. Goodlaw entered, accompanied by Mrs. Burnham and her little daughter, and all three took seats by a table inside the bar.

Sharpman came in a few minutes later, and Simon Craft arose from his place near the railing and went with him to another table.  Ralph, who was with Bachelor Billy down on a front bench, scarcely recognized the old man at first, there was so marked a change in his appearance.  He had on a clean new suit of black broadcloth, his linen was white and well arranged, and he had been freshly shaven.  Probably he had not presented so attractive an appearance before in many years.  It was all due to Sharpman’s money and wit.  He knew how much it is worth to have a client look well in the eyes of a jury, and he had acted according to his knowledge.

So Old Simon had a very grandfatherly air as he took his seat by the side of his counsel and laid his cane on the floor beside him.

After arranging his papers on the table, Sharpman arose and looked back over the crowded court-room.  Finally, catching sight of Ralph, he motioned to him to come inside the bar.  The boy obeyed, but not without embarrassment.  He saw that the eyes of all the people in the room were fixed on him as he crossed the open space and dropped into a chair by the side of Craft.  But he had passed Mrs. Burnham on his way, and she had reached out her gloved hand and grasped his little one and held him by her for a moment to look searchingly and longingly into his face; and she had said to him some kind words to put him at his ease, so that the situation was not so very trying, after all.

The clerk began to call a jury into the box.  One by one they answered to their names, and were scrutinized closely by the lawyers as they took their places.  Then Sharpman examined, carefully, the list of jurors that was handed to him, and drew his pen through one of the names.  It was that of a man who had once suffered by reason of the lawyer’s shrewdness, and he thought it best to challenge him.

“Call another juror,” he said, passing the list to Goodlaw, who also struck a name from it, added a new one, and passed it back.

The jury was finally settled, the challenged men were excused, and the remaining twelve were duly sworn.

Then Sharpman arose to open his case.  With rapid detail he went over the history of Ralph’s life from the time of the railroad accident to the day of the trial.  He dwelt upon Simon Craft’s kindness to the child, upon his energetic search for the unknown parents, and, later, for the boy himself; of his final success, of his constant effort in Ralph’s behalf, and his great desire, now, to help him into the family and fortune to which his birth entitled him.  “We shall show to you all of these facts, gentlemen of the jury,” said Sharpman, in conclusion.  “We shall prove to you, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this boy is Margaret Burnham’s son and an heir to Robert Burnham’s estates; and, having done so, we shall expect a verdict at your hands.”