The little man was cleared.
It took Happy a long time to get through what he had to say to his attorney in the anteroom, and even then, of course, he did not manage to put it in words, for he had "broken down" with sheer gratitude."Why, damn ME, Joe," he sobbed, "if ever I--if ever you--well, by God! if you ever--" This was the substance of his lingual accomplishment under the circumstances.But Claudine threw her arms around poor Joe's neck and kissed him.
Many people were waiting to shake hands with Joe and congratulate him.The trio, taking advantage of seats near the rail, had already done that (somewhat uproariously) before he had followed Happy, and so had Ariel and Ladew, both, necessarily, rather hurriedly.But in the corridors he found, when he came out of the anteroom, clients, acquaintances, friends: old friends, new friends, and friends he had never seen before --everybody beaming upon him and wringing his hand, as if they had been sure of it all from the start.
"KNOW him?" said one to another."Why, I've knowed him sence he was that high! SMART little feller he was, too!" This was a total stranger.
"I said, years ago"--thus Mr.Brown, the "National House" clerk, proving his prophetic vision --"that he'd turn out to be a big man some day."They gathered round him if he stopped for an instant, and crowded after him admiringly when he went on again, making his progress slow.When he finally came out of the big doors into the sunshine, there were as many people in the yard as there had been when he stood in the same place and watched the mob rushing his client's guards.