“It is a brief in an action of ejectment,” replied the attorney—­“Woodley versus Thorndyke; and is brought to recover possession of a freehold estate now held and farmed by the defendant.”

“An action of ejectment to recover possession of a freehold estate! defended, too, I know, by a powerful bar; for I was offered a brief, but declined it.  Mr. P ——­ leads; and you bring me this for the plaintiff, and at the last moment too!  You must be crazed.”

“I told the plaintiff and her grandfather,” rejoined Mr. Barnes, “that it was too late to bespeak counsel’s attention to the case; and that the fee, all they have, with much difficulty, been able to raise, was ridiculously small; but they insisted on my applying to you—­Oh, here they are!”

We had by this time reached the street, and the attorney pointed towards two figures standing in attitudes of anxious suspense near the gateway.  It was dusk, but there was quite sufficient light to distinguish the pale and interesting features of a young female, dressed in faded and scanty mourning, and accompanied by a respectable-looking old man with white hair, and a countenance deeply furrowed by age and grief.

“I told you, Miss Woodley,” said the attorney, “that this gentleman would decline the brief, especially with such a fee”—­

“It is not the fee, man!” I observed, for I was somewhat moved by the appealing dejection exhibited by the white-haired man and his timid grand-daughter; “but what chance can I have of establishing this person’s right—­if right she have—­to the estate she claims, thus suddenly called upon to act without previous consultation; and utterly ignorant, except as far as this I perceive hastily-scrawled brief will instruct me, both of the nature of the plaintiff’s claim and of the defence intended to be set up against it?”

“If you would undertake it, sir,” said the young woman with a tremulous, hesitating voice and glistening eyes, “for his sake”—­and she glanced at her aged companion—­“who will else be helpless, homeless.”

“The blessing of those who are ready to perish will be yours, sir,” said the grandfather with meek solemnity, “if you will lend your aid in this work of justice and mercy.  We have no hope of withstanding the masterful violence and wrong of wicked and powerful men except by the aid of the law, which we have been taught will ever prove a strong tower of defence to those who walk in the paths of peace and right.”

The earnestness of the old man’s language and manner, and the pleading gentleness of the young woman, forcibly impressed me; and, albeit, it was a somewhat unprofessional mode of business, I determined to hear their story from their own lips, rather than take it from the scrawled brief, or through the verbal medium of their attorney.