could not bear — and if he used them ill, it was what became him, and what they de served. And then his words made deep
scratches; but still with salvo to his own dignity, which he never exposed by im potent chiding." — The Law Times.
SQUIRE TERRY. Bv ELMER E. FERRIS. SQUIRE TERRY had been county sheriff for twelve consecutive years up in Ver mont, and his experience in court had famil iarized him not only with the forms and ceremonies of legal procedure, but also, to a considerable extent, with rudimentary prin ciples of law. Therefore, when he removed to Wisconsin, in an early day, and took up a farm near the incipient village of L , he soon impressed himself upon the com munity as a legal factotum of no small con sequence and, in recognition of his abilities in this regard, he was elected justice of the peace and became known throughout that section as " Squair Terry." The Squire had brought with him from Vermont a book of common law forms which he kept in his private room; he had the true legal instinct, for, whenever he had oc casion to draw up an instrument, no matter how simple the matter might be, he would incorporate within it such a mass of legal verbiage (taken mostly from the book of forms) that, when the document had been duly read and signed and the Squire had pasted a red sticker upon it and affixed his notarial seal (which he did to all his papers), one could not escape the conviction that, so far as it lay in human power to make a thing legal and binding, this matter was so. lie it remembered, however, that the Squire was no imposter, for, aside from his harmless vanity over his legal acquirements and his fondness for legal punctilio, he was a man of equity and good conscience and possessed a large fund of native common sense and sagacity which made him a safe adviser; furthermore, his court experience
up in Vermont had so thoroughly convinced him of the wastefulness and folly of unneces sary litigation that his good offices were most frequently exercised in adjusting differ ences between neighbors and keeping them out of court; hence it was that he became a most useful member of the community, and enjoyed the confidence of his fellowcitizens to an unusual degree. One day, in the latter part of October, he was summoned to the home of a German farmer named Christian Boch, who lived about two miles north of the village. The Squire had, in times past, done some busi ness for Christian; but, since the mortgage on the farm had been paid off, Christian had not been in need of much legal advice, hence the Squire was somewhat puzzled to surmise the nature of this particular business. " Must be a will," he muttered to himself as he bustled about preparing for the trip, " Yes, that's it; Christian hes got into pooty good shape and wants to make his will." How ever, as was his custom, he put into his valise the Revised Statutes, his book of forms, some blank deeds, bills of sale, mort gages, promissory notes and a liberal supply of legal cap. Then, jumping into his buggy, he started for the Boch farm with a feeling of placid satisfaction quite pardonable in a virtuous justice of the peace who is about to exercise his favorite function; for the drawing of wills was the Squire's especial delight, and incidentally the gathering in of a five-dollar fee therefor. Arrived at the farm the Squire tied his horse and proceeded deliberately toward the house, fully prepared for that hearty Ger
