CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE TRIAL "Your Honour," said Franklin to the Court, "I appear to defend this man." The opening sentence of the young advocate might have been uttered in burlesque.

To call this a court of justice might have seemed sheer libel.

There was not the first suggestion of the dignity and solemnity of the law.
Ellisville had no hall of justice, and the court sat at one place or another, as convenience dictated.

This being an important case, and one in which all the populace was interested, Judge Bristol had selected the largest available assembly room, which happened to be the central hall of Sam Poston's livery barn.

The judge sat behind a large upturned box, which supported a few battered books.