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Ninety Days Inside The Empire: A Novel by William Appleman Williams

Glimpses of An Election

Page 85

"Young man, you have got the makings of a lawyer. So show us what you got."

Roberts passed his transcribed notes over to Marsh, who handed them on to Cat as he finished each page.

"Well, Cat, what you say?"

"That's the way I remember it, Judge."

Marsh turned back to Roberts. "You mind a little test, yeoman?"

"No, Sir."

Marsh picked up the morning newspaper and read several paragraphs from three different stories. Tim reviewed his notes for a few minutes, making two changes.

"I'm ready, Sir."

"Read it. Slow."

As he did, Marsh followed each word in the paper with a pencil.

"You are very good, Mr. Roberts. Very good. You missed two legal terms and one number, but those don't count very much. Maybe I slurred the number. Let's talk serious now. The first thing just puzzles me: I didn't know you were a member of the NAACP...."

"I figured you'd ask me that right off because I got all the business talk at the end."

"Correct."

"Well, I'm not a member, but I went with a friend of Mr. Hank's..." He looked over at Cat: "I mean Chief Blake." Cat shrugged. "He stayed so I stayed and just kept taking notes. I kept gettin' more and more excited. I never been to anything like that before. I think I'll join."

"Fair enough, Tim. But joining's not the issue. Strictly your business. But now we got the tough one, and Cat, you wake up and pay attention.

Nobody told Thorpe or Clay that they'd be taken down. Gillmor didn't write anything like you've got in his story this morning. Oh, some of it's there if you been reading between the lines as long as I have, but Mr. Roberts got it cold."

He replenished his tumbler.

"Thing is, Cat, your newspaper -so-called- can't afford to get sued. Oh, given Tim's notes and other reports, some court would sometime down the line probably throw it out. In the meantime you're discredited and in debt -with no income.

"The only way you can use this is if Thorpe and Clay sign a release...."

"SHIT!"

"You got to learn to use your mouth to take a deep breath, Mr. Cat."

"I took one this morning with Mrs. Warrener."

"That'll hold for a spell. This won't. Either you get this out Monday or it's stale."

"Agreed. So?"

"I'll see Thorpe and Clay and come back to you at home tonight. Now, Mr. Roberts, can you stay here and type me three copies of this on my old machine?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Then we'll go out to dinner and I'll tell you about real barges on the Mississippi."

"Thank you, Sir. Best liberty I've had."

"No young ladies....?"

Cat tipped a hand to them and left to find his way to Cohen's store.

He had looked in the windows one afternoon with Susan, but they had walked on for lack of that kind of money. He was even more impressed once he stepped inside.

-- Very classy, this.

Run-Run was not in sight, so he nodded to a salesman and walked back to the section of summer uniforms.

-- My God. All of them must cost my month's pay. He hesitated even to touch one.

"That would suit you very well, Lieutenant Wye."