ad been cogitating upon
the last remark of the red-haired officer until he had waxed wroth,
burst out:

"'Jack-ass! jack-ass! yes, you _are_ a jack-ass; not a doubt of it.'

"_Clerk._--Come, tell me what kind of liquor did you drink yesterday?

"_Edward._--Soap, candles, coffee, bar-lead, chickens, coal, pine
kindling-wood, smoked hams, and white-wood shingles--

"_Judge_ (interfering).--Prisoner, you are only getting yourself into
trouble. My patience will give out. I can't stand everything. Do you
think I'm made of patience?

"_Edward._--Whisky; nothing but whisky, sir; upon my honor.

"The last answer proved too much for the gravity of the Court. The
Judge, the Clerk, the attendant officers, and all smiled audibly. A
whispered word from the Clerk explained to the Justice the true state of
the case. Edward was discharged, and as he departed from the
court-room, an officer, two blocks away, heard him, in answer to a
request for a penny proffered by a little girl, give what was
undoubtedly intended as a detailed reply to the last interrogative
remark of the Police Justice."

The case of Mr. Palmerston Hook, which was also reported in Wagstaff's
notebook, would seem to indicate that there was more than one way of
catching fish.

"Mr. Hook was brought up as a vagrant. He was a smooth-faced individual,
about old enough to vote, dressed in rather grotesque, flashy clothes,
very much worn. The sleeves of his coat were quite large, in accordance
with the prevailing style. But they served a purpose of utility, as was
developed by the evidence, in a rather novel profession which Mr. Hook
followed.

"The principal witness was Mr. James Skinner, a very respectable dealer
in Catherine Market, who devotes his time and talents to purchasing eels
from the catchers thereof and selling the same to citizens and others
who desire to enjoy the luxury of eating eels, either fried or done up
in the form of pie or any other form. Mr. Skinner has obtained for
himself an enviable popularity as a man of integrity. It has never been
said of him that he ever sold an eel whose recent advent upon dry land
from the salt water was a matter of serious question; and to think that
Mr. Palmerston Hook should have selected Mr. Skinner's stock to
depredate upon is a matter of some surprise. Mr. Skinner testified as
follows:

"'This 'ere feller came to my eel-stand yes'day mornin' and asked me how
eels was? Sez I, 'Good as usu'l,' and I axed hi