"I may not?" asked Judge Carter with a lift of his eyebrows.
"No sir. You may not."
"And just why may I not?"
"If this were a criminal case, and if you could establish that some of my
knowledge were guilty knowledge, you could then demand that I reveal the
source of my guilty knowledge and under what circumstance it was
obtained. If I refused to disclose my source, I could then be held in
contempt of court or charged with being an accessory to the corpus of the
crime. However, this is a court hearing to establish whether or not I am
competent under law to manage my own affairs. How I achieve my mental
competence is not under question. Let us say that it is a process that is
my secret by the right of inheritance from my parents and as such it is
valuable to me so long as I can demand payment for its use."
"This information may have a bearing on my ruling."
"Your Honor, the acquisition of knowledge or information _per se_ is
concomitant with growing up. I can and will demonstrate that I have the
equivalent of the schooling necessary to satisfy both this Court and the
State Board of Education. I will state that my education has been
acquired by concentration and application in home study, and that I admit
to attendance at no school. I will provide you or anybody else with a
list of the books from which I have gleaned my education. But whether I
practice Yoga, Dianetics, or write the lines on a sugarcoated pill and
swallow it is my trade secret. It can not be extracted from me by any
process of the law because no illegality exists."
"And what if I rule that you are not competent under the law, or withhold
judgment until I have had an opportunity to investigate these ways and
means of acquiring an accelerated education?"
"I'll then go on record as asking you to disbar yourself from this
hearing on the grounds that you are not an impartial judge of the justice
in my case."
"Upon what grounds?"
"Upon the grounds that you are personally interested in being provided
with a process whereby you may acquire an advanced education yourself."
The judge looked at James thoughtfully for a moment. "And if I point out
that any such process is of extreme interest to the State and to the
Union itself, and as such must be disclosed?"
"Then I shall point out that your ruling is based upon a personal opinion
because you don't know anything about the process. If I am ruled a legal
minor you cannot punish me for not telling you my secrets, and if I am
ruled legally competent, I am entitled to my own decision."
"You are within your rights," admitted Judge Carter with some interest.
"I shall not make such a demand. But I now ask you if this process of
yours is both safe and simple."
"If it is properly used with some good judgment."
"Now listen to me carefully," said Judge Carter. "Is it not true that
your difficulties in school, your inability to get along with your
classmates, and your having to hide while you toiled for your livelihood
in secret--these are due to this extensive education brought about
through your secret process?"
"I must agree, but--"
"You must agree," interrupted Judge Carter. "Yet knowing these unpleasant
things did not deter you from placing, or trying to place, the daughter
of your housekeeper in the same unhappy state. In other words, you hoped
to make an intellectual misfit out of her, too?"
"I--now see here--"
"You see here! Did you or did you not aid in the education of Martha
Bagley, now Martha Fisher?"
"Yes, I did, and--"
"Was that good judgment, James Holden?"
"What's wrong with higher education?" demanded James angrily.
"Nothing, if it's acquired properly."
"But--"
"Now listen again. If I were to rule in your favor, would Martha Fisher
be the next bratling in a long and everlasting line of infant supermen
applying to this and that and the other Court to have their legal
majority ruled, each of them pointing to your case as having established
precedence?"
"I have no way of predicting the future, sir. What may happen in the
future really has no bearing in evidence here."
"Granted that it does not. But I am not going to establish a dangerous
precedent that will end with doctors qualified to practice surgery before
they are big enough to swing a stethoscope or attorneys that plead a case
before they are out of short pants. I am going to recess this case
indefinitely with a partial ruling. First, until this process of yours
comes under official study, I am declaring you, James Holden, to be a
Ward of this State, under the jurisdiction of this Court. You will have
the legal competence to act in matters of skill, including the signing of
documents and instruments necessary to your continued good health. In all
matters that require mature judgment, you will report to this Court and
all such questions shall be rendered after proper deliberation either in
open session or in chambers, depending upon the Court's opinion of their
importance. The court stenographer will now strike all of the testimony
given by James Holden from the record."
"I object!" exploded Brennan's attorney, rising swiftly and with one hand
pressing Brennan down to prevent him from rising also.
"All objections are overruled. The new Ward of the State will meet with
me in my chambers at once. Court is adjourned."
* * * * *
The session was stormy but brief. Holden objected to everything, but the
voice of Judge Carter was loud and his stature was large; they overrode
James Holden and compelled his attention.
"We're out of the court," snapped Judge Carter. "We no longer need
observe the niceties of court etiquette, so now shut up and listen!
Holden, you are involved in a thing that is explosively dangerous. You
claim it to be a secret, but your secret is slowly leaking out of your
control. You asked for your legal competence to be ruled. Fine, but if I
allowed that, every statement made by you about your education would be
in court record and your so-called secret that much more widespread. How
long do you think it would have been before millions of people howled at
your door? Some of them yelping for help and some of them bitterly
objecting to tampering with the immature brain? You'd be accused of
brainwashing, of making monsters, of depriving children of their heritage
of happiness--and in the same ungodly howl there would be voices as
loudly damning you for not tossing your process into their laps. And
there would be a number trying to get to you on the sly so that they
could get a head start over the rest.
"You want your competence affirmed legally? James, you have not the
stature nor the voice to fight them off. Even now, your little secret is
in danger and you'll probably have to bribe a few wiseacres with a touch
of accelerated knowledge to keep them from spilling the whole story, even
though I've ruled your testimony incompetent and immaterial and stricken
from the record. Now, we'll study this system of yours under controlled
conditions as your parents wanted, and we'll have professional help and
educated advice, and both you and your process shall be under the
protection of my Court, and when the time comes you shall receive the
kudos and benefits from it. Understand?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. Now, as my first order, you go back to Shipmont and pack your
gear. You'll report to my home as soon as you've made all the
arrangements. There'll be no more hiding out and playing your little
process in secret either from Paul Brennan--yes, I know that you believe
that he was somehow instrumental in the death of your parents but have no
shred of evidence that would stand in court--or the rest of the world. Is
that, and everything else I've said in private, very clear?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Now, be off with you. And do not hesitate to call upon me if there
is any interference whatsoever."