noon
And he is not particularly cheered by the knowledge that the Associated Press report that very afternoon is sending all over the world the story of the indictment . But late in the afternoon Judge Bemis , in whose court the indictment was found , much to his chagrin , upon evidence furnished by special counsel sent out from Washington -- Judge Bemis tells him , as from one old friend to another , that the special counsellor is n't much of a lawyer . The pleasant friendly little rip-saw laugh of the judge over the telephone nearly a thousand miles away is not distinct enough to be heard across the stage even if the carpenters were not hammering , and the orchestra screaming , and the audience buzzing ; but that little laugh of his good friend , Judge Bemis , was the sweetest sound John Barclay had heard in many a day . It seemed curious that he should so associate it , but that little laugh seemed to drown the sound of a clicking key in a lock -- a large iron lock , that had been rattling in his mind since noon . For even in the minds of the rich and the great , even in the minds of men who fancy they are divinely appointed to parcel out to their less daring brethren the good things of this world , there is always a child 's horror of the jail . So when Mr. Barclay , who was something of a lawyer himself , heard his good friend , Judge Bemis , laugh that pleasant little friendly laugh behind the scenes , the heart of Mr. Barclay gave a little pulse-beat of relief if not of joy . But an instant later the blight of the indictment was over him again .