CHAPTER XXX
The case of "The United States vs. Ramund, et al.," crawled up slowly on the trial calendar until the work of getting the jury began—three days before Christmas. I wired Howard when to be there, and made arrangements at the Waldorf Hotel for him, also little Jim and her escort, and sent for them as soon as I thought the jury would be completed.
The two suites I engaged at the hotel were entered from a wing off the main hall on that floor. A big front one for little Jim and her escort, a smaller one across the hall I occupied until Howard came. A maid I brought in saw to it that our witness was not molested.
The jockeying of the defense for time disgusted the court and everyone else, though it suited me because our star witness, Howard, was delayed. I knew little Jim had arrived, but did not actually see her for reasons that will appear.
Howard did not arrive until the afternoon before Christmas, with the defense still obstructing the progress of the trial. Pushed hard late in the afternoon they admitted they could not produce a single one of the defendants. Their bonds were immediately declared forfeited, and court adjourned for the holidays. I had to attend to some detail. I told Howard to go to the hotel and get cleaned up. I would meet him there soon. He misunderstood me and before I knew it was assigned rooms in another part of the hotel. Then I went for the first time to see little Jim, ostensibly to tell her that she would not have to appear as a witness.
She came to the door at my ring and was very much delighted to see me, leading me to her teacher and escort in the front room of the suite and introducing me with polite formality.
Her teacher started visibly at her clear pronunciation of the name and asked me to be seated, her eyes trying to penetrate my incongruous appearance.