“See here, Sam; I need a new pair of shoes,—­soft leather, thin soles, good cut; do you suppose you know how to measure me for them?”

“Well, I guess I’ve found out that much, Mr. Bartram.”

“Go ahead, then; don’t let me interfere with the measurement; but I want to ask you some questions; tell me what you can as you go along.  You’ve been converted, they say, and you say so too.”

“Yes, sir,” said Sam, dropping the tape-line for a moment; “what other people say I’m not responsible for, but I say it myself that I’m a different man.  That’s all I can say, Mr. Bartram; an’, as I said before, if you want to know more, you’d better ask somebody that’s been in that sort o’ life longer than I have.”

“Nonsense, Sam! you are too modest.  As they say in churches, the newest convert has the strongest opinions.  Now, you know what my business is.  Strong opinions amount to everything in the legal business, and so I have come to you, just as squarely as I could go to any man in the world about anything else that he understood, to ask you plainly what you know about this new life that you are said to be leading now.  Tell it to me, out and out.  Don’t be afraid to keep back anything.  Take all the time you like at it.  If you can’t say just what you want to, try to put it as clearly as you can.  I didn’t come in to worry you.  Remember that I really want some distinct information on the subject.”

Sam looked up keenly, and said, “Mr. Bartram, are you in earnest?”

“Sam Kimper,” said the young lawyer, “if I were not in earnest do you suppose I’d come into this shop during the business hours of the day and ask questions of this kind, when there are plenty of other people I could go to and get the information I want, and perhaps a good deal more?  No, sir; I have come here to ask you because I thought that whatever you could say you would say in the fewest possible words and say it right to the point.”

“But, Mr. Bartram, I’m not used to talkin’ to lawyers.  I never talked to any but once, you know, an’ then I don’t think they had very much respect for what I said.  I wasn’t in a fix where anybody could have any respect for me.”

“This hasn’t anything to do with those times, Sam,” said the lawyer.  “A friend of yours, who is a friend of mine, has told me that you talked very straightforward and honestly on this subject a few nights ago.  That’s more than I have been able to find anybody do in this town in a long time.  I don’t mind saying to you that, according to what the people who are the most prominent in the church say, I’m a pretty hard character.  Therefore whatever you have to say you needn’t be afraid to put very plainly.  I simply want to know about myself; that’s all.”