General Deffenbaugh was the Voice of Elmville.  Some said he was Elmville.  At any rate, he had no competitor as the Mouthpiece.  He owned enough stock in the Daily Banner to dictate its utterance, enough shares in the First National Bank to be the referee of its loans, and a war record that left him without a rival for first place at barbecues, school commencements, and Decoration Days.  Besides these acquirements he was possessed with endowments.  His personality was inspiring and triumphant.  Undisputed sway had moulded him to the likeness of a fatted Roman emperor.  The tones of his voice were not otherwise than clarion.  To say that the General was public-spirited would fall short of doing him justice.  He had spirit enough for a dozen publics.  And as a sure foundation for it all, he had a heart that was big and stanch.  Yes; General Deffenbaugh was Elmville.

One little incident that usually occurred during the Governor’s morning walk has had its chronicling delayed by more important matters.  The procession was accustomed to halt before a small brick office on the Avenue, fronted by a short flight of steep wooden steps.  A modest tin sign over the door bore the words:  “Wm. B. Pemberton:  Attorney-at-Law.”

Looking inside, the General would roar:  “Hello, Billy, my boy.”  The less distinguished members of the escort would call:  “Morning, Billy.”  The Governor would pipe:  “Good morning, William.”

Then a patient-looking little man with hair turning gray along the temples would come down the steps and shake hands with each one of the party.  All Elmville shook hands when it met.

The formalities concluded, the little man would go back to his table, heaped with law books and papers, while the procession would proceed.

Billy Pemberton was, as his sign declared, a lawyer by profession.  By occupation and common consent he was the Son of his Father.  This was the shadow in which Billy lived, the pit out of which he had unsuccessfully striven for years to climb and, he had come to believe, the grave in which his ambitions were destined to be buried.  Filial respect and duty he paid beyond the habit of most sons, but he aspired to be known and appraised by his own deeds and worth.

After many years of tireless labour he had become known in certain quarters far from Elmville as a master of the principles of the law.  Twice he had gone to Washington and argued cases before the highest tribunal with such acute logic and learning that the silken gowns on the bench had rustled from the force of it.  His income from his practice had grown until he was able to support his father, in the old family mansion (which neither of them would have thought of abandoning, rickety as it was) in the comfort and almost the luxury of the old extravagant days.  Yet, he remained to Elmville as only “Billy” Pemberton, the son of our distinguished and honoured fellow-townsman, “ex-Governor Pemberton.”