continerous sittings--off and on
we sits continerously at Nisy Prisy in London three months in the year.
Now that ain't bad for London: but it's nothing near so much time as they
gives to places like Aylesbury, Bedford, and many others."

Mr. Bumpkin looked like a terrier dog watching a hole out of which he
expected a rat: at present he saw no sign of one.

"Take Aylesbury; well now, if a Judge went there once in seven years he'd
find about every other assize enough work to last him till lunch. But in
course two Judges must go to Aylesbury four times a year, to do nothing
but admire the building where the Courts are held; otherwise you'd soon
have Aylesbury marching on to London to know the reason why. P'r'aps the
Judges have left five hundred cases untried in London to go to this
Aylesbury."

"Be it a big plaace, sir?"

"Not so big as a good-sized hotel," said the Don. "Then," he continued,
"there's Bedford ditto again--septennel would do for that; then comes
Northampton--they don't want no law there at all." (I leave the obvious
pun to anyone who likes to make it). "Then Okeham again--did you ever
hear of anyone who came from Okeham? I never did."

The Don paused, as though on the answer to this question depended his
future course.

"Noa," said Bumpkin, "can't rightly say as ever I did."

"And nobody ever did come from there except the Judges. Well, to Okeham
they go four times a year, whereas if they was to go about once in every
hundred years it wouldn't pay. Why raly, Mr. Bumpkin, the Judges goes
round like travellers arfter orders, and can't get none. I'm not
talkin', as you are aware, about great centres like Liverpool, where if
they had about fifty-two assizes in the year it wouldn't be one too many;
but I'm talking about circumfrences on the confines of civilization."

"Oh dear!" sighed Bumpkin. The hole seemed to him too choked up with
"larnin'" for the rat ever to come out--he could glean nothing from this
highly wrought and highly polished enthusiasm.

"And, notwithstanding and accordingly," continued the Don, "they do say,
goodness knows how true it is, that they're going to have two more
assizes in the year. All that I can say is, Mr. Bumpkin--and, mark my
words, there'll be no stopping in London at all, but it will be just a
reg'ler Judge's merry-go-round." {138}

Mr. Bumpkin dropped a look into his glass, and the two companions came
out of the door and proceeded along under the ar