"'It's all right,' whispered Mr. Lawyer. 'It's only a form.' And they hustled me out back to the Tombs.
"I didn't hear anything all that day or the next. It seemed as if I should go mad. But at last I was notified that my lawyer was there again, and down I went glad enough for the change. By that time I was feeling pretty seedy.
"'Well, young man,' said he, 'can we do business?'
"'That depends,' I answered.
"'Come, no fooling, now; if you want to get out, give me an assignment of your claim.'
"'Never,' I replied.
"'Then to h—— with you!' he shouted; 'you can rot here alone and try your case by yourself, and I hope you'll get twenty years.'
"I almost sank through the floor. Twenty years!"
Riggs had become quite dramatic, and was again leaning forward looking me straight in the eyes.
"Well, I stood fast, and he cursed me out and left me, and I began to feel that after all maybe I was a fool. I hadn't let my wife know where I was, but now I wrote to her, and she came right down and comforted me. A brave little woman she is, too. And what was more, she said that a nice young lawyer had just moved into our house and had the flat below, and she would go and get him.