Harlowe's quick eye had noticed this,
but he speedily became interested and absorbed in the other papers.
Thatcher lapsed into contemplation of the fire.
"Well," said Harlowe, finally turning to his client, "here's enough
to unseat Gashwiler, or close his mouth. As to the rest, it's good
reading--but I needn't tell you--no LEGAL evidence. But it's proof
enough to stop them from ever trying it again,--when the existence of
this record is made known. Bribery is a hard thing to fix on a man; the
only witness is naturally particeps criminis;--but it would not be easy
for them to explain away this rascal's record. One or two things I don't
understand: What's this opposite the Hon. X's name, 'Took the medicine
nicely, and feels better?' and here, just in the margin, after Y's,
'Must be labored with?'"
"I suppose our California slang borrows largely from the medical and
spiritual profession," returned Thatcher. "But isn't it odd that a man
should keep a conscientious record of his own villainy?"
Harlowe, a little abashed at his want of knowledge of American metaphor,
now felt himself at home.
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