His Other Wife: A Novel — page 270: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

262 . MORAL LEPROSY. This was all—not a word of sympathy, not a syllable of regret or explanation—simply this abrupt withdrawal from his service. Mr. Croft had chosen this man from among the several ‘prominent lawyers with whom he had been associated in practice, because of his sound sense and shrewd powers of observation, and because his indigent circumstances would be a stimulus added to professional pride in a case where the fee was made contingent, as he had purposely made that which he proposed as a recompense for successful effort in his cause. The eloquence and legal learning of the associated counsel, Mr. Pearson, were to surmount the more laborious preparations of the details of the case. Mr. Croft relied more upon himself than either or both of them. Of the two men, Fields, who was on the spot, and upon whom the prisoner relied for collecting informa- tion, and watching the opposing counsel, was the more important, and it was not without great annoyance that Croft digested the contents of the note. | ‘Shall you send a reply, sir?” asked the deputy officer of the jail, whose duty it was to attend on the prisoner and comply with all reasonable and lawful demands. ““No.” The officer withdrew; and, after casting about for the best plan to pursue in this unlooked-for and unaccount- able emergency, Croft decided to remain passive for the present, awaiting the arrival of Mr. Pearson. Meanwhile, a public announcement of his arrest, and a Comicbooks.co