lie."

"But if it was a lie, Mr. Hathorn, if this cat did not upset their ink,
why on earth should these boys have a grudge against her and murder
her?"

The schoolmaster was silent.

"Now I want an answer, sir. You are punishing thirty boys in addition to
the sixteen daily canings divided among them; you have cut off all their
play time, and kept them at work from the time they rise to the time
they go to bed. As you see, according to your own statement, they could
have had no grudge against the cat, how are you sure they murdered her?"

"I am quite sure." Mr. Hathorn said doggedly. "Boys have always a spite
against cats."

"Now, your honors, you hear this," Mr. Wakefield said. "Now I am about
to place in the witness box a very respectable woman, one Jane Tytler,
who is cook to our esteemed fellow townsman, Mr. Samuel Hawkins, whose
residence is, as you know, not far from this school. She will tell you
that, having for some time been plagued by a thieving cat which was in
the habit of getting into her larder and carrying off portions of food,
she, finding it one day there in the act of stealing a half chicken,
fell upon it with a broomstick and killed it, or as she thought killed
it, and I imagine most cooks would have acted the same under the
circumstances.

"She thought no more about it until she heard the reports in the town
about this business at the school, and then she told her master. The
dates have been compared, and it is found that she battered this cat
on the evening before the Hathorn cat was found dead in the yard.
Furthermore, the cat she battered was a white cat with a black spot
on one side, and this is the exact description of the Hathorn cat;
therefore, your honors, you will see that the assumption, or pretense,
or excuse, call it what you will, by which this man justifies his
tyrannical treatment of these unfortunate boys has no base or foundation
whatever. You can go now, Mr. Hathorn; I have nothing further to say to
you."

A loud hiss rose again from the crowded court as the schoolmaster
stepped down from the witness box, and Jane Tytler took his place.
After giving her evidence she was succeeded by Dick Tompkins in much
trepidation. Dick was a most unwilling witness, but he produced the
notebook in which he had daily jotted down the number of boys caned, and
swore to the general accuracy of the figures.

Mr. Wakefield then asked the magistrates if they would like to hear any
further w