there reached the flat monotony of the dark prairie soil.  The leaves of the soft maples were beginning to show over there, near the village church.  A dog crossed the street, pausing midway of the crossing to scratch his ear.  The cart of the leading grocer was hitched in front of his store, and an idle citizen or two paused near by to exchange a morning greeting.  All the little, uneventful day was beginning, as it had begun so many times before here in this little, uneventful town, where the world was finished, never more to change.  Franklin shuddered.  Was this, then, to be his life?  He turned to the rows of scuffed-backed law books on their shelves.  Then he turned again to his letter, and to the window, and to the birds and the grass.  He caught himself noting how long the dog’s hind leg looked, how impossible the angle between the fore leg and the spine, as it half sat in flea-compelled contortions.

There came a regular tread upon the stair, as there had always for years come at this hour of half past seven in the morning, rain or shine.  Judge Bradley entered, tall, portly, smooth shaven, his silk hat pushed back upon his brow, as was his fashion.  Franklin turned to make the usual morning salutation.

“Good-morning, Ned,” said the Judge, affably.

“Good-morning, Judge,” said Franklin.  “I hope you are well.”

“Yes, thank you.  Nothing ever the matter with me.  How are things coming?”

“Oh, all right, thank you.”

This was the stereotyped form of the daily greeting between the two.  Judge Bradley turned as usual to his desk, but, catching sight of the letter still held in Franklin’s hand, remarked carelessly: 

“Got a letter from your girl?”

“Not so lucky,” said Franklin.  “From a friend.”

Silence resulted.  Judge Bradley opened his desk, took off his coat and hung it on a nail, after his custom, thereafter seating himself at his desk, with the official cough which signified that the campaign of the day had begun.  He turned over the papers for a moment, and remarked absent-mindedly, and more to be polite than because the matter interested him, “Friend, eh?”

“Yes,” said Franklin, “friend, out West”; and both relapsed again into silence.  Franklin once more fell to gazing out of the window, but at length turned toward the desk and pulled over his chair to a closer speaking distance.

“Judge Bradley,” said he, “I shouldn’t wonder if I could pass my examination for the bar.”

“Well, now,” said the Judge, “I hope you can.  That’s nice.  Goin’ to hang out your own shingle, eh?”

“I might, if I got my license.”