He had a feeling that the testimony of the foremen and the superintendent had brought about the adverse decision of the court.

Their testimony, as he put it, "wasn't what it ought to have ben." And to them I resolved to go.
One thing was plain, Jackson's situation was wretched.

His wife was in ill health, and he was unable to earn, by his rattan-work and peddling, sufficient food for the family.

He was back in his rent, and the oldest boy, a lad of eleven, had started to work in the mills.
"They might a-given me that watchman's job," were his last words as I went away.
By the time I had seen the lawyer who had handled Jackson's case, and the two foremen and the superintendent at the mills who had testified, I began to feel that there was something after all in Ernest's contention.
He was a weak and inefficient-looking man, the lawyer, and at sight of him I did not wonder that Jackson's case had been lost.

My first thought was that it had served Jackson right for getting such a lawyer.