Keen and shrewd as he is, the solicitor has a kindly reputation.  Men say that he is slow to press them, that he makes allowances for circumstances; that if the tenant is honestly willing to discharge his obligation he need fear no arbitrary selling up.  But he is equally reputed swift of punishment upon those who would take shelter behind more shallow pretence, or attempt downright deceit.  Let a man only be straightforward, and the solicitor will wait rather than put the law in force.  Therefore, he is popular, and people have faith in him.  But the labour, the incessant supervision, the jotting down of notes, the ceaseless interviews, the arguments, the correspondence, the work that is never finished when night comes, tell even upon that physical vigour and mental elasticity.  Hodge sleeps sound and sees the days go by with calm complacency.  The man who holds that solid earth, as it were, in the japanned boxes finds a nervous feeling growing upon him despite his strength of will.  Presently nature will have her way; and, weary and hungry for fresh air, he rushes off for awhile to distant trout-stream, moor, or stubble.

CHAPTER XVII

‘COUNTY-COURT DAY’

The monthly sitting of the County Court in a country market town is an event of much interest in all the villages around, so many of the causes concerning agricultural people.  ‘County-Court Day’ is looked upon as a date in the calendar by which to recollect when a thing happened, or to arrange for the future.

As the visitor enters the doorway of the Court, at a distance the scene appears imposing.  Brass railings and red curtains partition off about a third of the hall, and immediately in the rear of this the Judge sits high above the rest on a raised and carpeted dais.  The elevation and isolation of the central figure adds a solemn dignity to his office.  His features set, as it were, in the wig, stand out in sharp relief—­they are of a keenly intellectual cast, and have something of the precise clearness of an antique cameo.  The expression is that of a mind in continuous exercise—­of a mind accustomed not to slow but to quick deliberation, and to instant decision.  The definition of the face gives the eyes the aspect of penetration, as if they saw at once beneath the surface of things.

If the visitor looks only at the Judge he will realise the dignity of the law; the law which is the outcome and result of so many centuries of thought.  But if he glances aside from the central figure the impression is weakened by the miserable, hollow, and dingy framing.  The carpet upon the dais and the red curtains before it ill conceal the paltry substructure.  It is composed of several large tables, heavy and shapeless as benches, placed side by side to form a platform.  The curtains are dingy and threadbare the walls dingy; the ceiling, though lofty, dingy; the boxes on either side for Plaintiff and Defendant are scratched and