ow?" asks the clerk.

"I heard--"

"I object," says the Counsel--"can't tell us what he heard."

Then I perceived that the Lord Mayor leant forward towards Mr.
Keepimstraight, and the latter gentleman turned his head and leaned
towards the Lord Mayor, so that his Lordship could obtain a full view of
Mr. Keepimstraight's eyes.

Then I perceived that Mr. Keepimstraight winked his left eye and
immediately turned to his work again, and his Lordship said:

"I don't think what you heard, witness, is evidence."

"Can't have that," said Mr. Keepimstraight, as though he took his
instructions and the Law from his Lordship.

"You said it was half-past four."

"Heard the clock strike th' arf hour."

Here his Lordship leant again forward and Mr. Keepimstraight turned round
so as to bring his eyes into the same position as heretofore. And I
perceived that Mr. Keepimstraight winked his right eye, upon which his
Lordship said:

"I think that's evidence."

Clerk whispered, behind his hand, "Can hardly exclude that."

"Can hardly exclude that," repeats his Lordship; then--turning to the
Learned Counsel--"Can't shut that out, Mr. Nimble."

"You seldom can shut a church clock out, my Lord," replies the Counsel.

At this answer his Lordship smiled and the Court was convulsed with
laughter for several minutes.

"Now, then," said Mr. Keepimstraight, "we must have order in Court."

"We must have order in Court," says his Lordship.

"Order in Court," says the Junior Clerk, and "Order!" shouts the
Policeman on duty.

Then Mr. Bumpkin stated in clear and intelligible language how the man
came up and took his watch and ran away. Foolishly enough he said
nothing about the woman with the baby, and wisely enough Mr. Nimble asked
nothing about it. But what an opportunity this would have been for an
unskilful Counsel to lay the foundation for a conviction. Knowing, as he
probably would from the prisoner but from no other possible source about
the circumstance, he might have shown by a question or two that it was a
conspiracy between the prisoner and the young woman. Not so Mr. Nimble,
he knew how to make an investment of this circumstance for future profit:
indeed Mr. Bumpkin had invested it for him by not mentioning it.
Beautiful is Advocacy if you do not mar it by unskilful handling.

When, after describing the robbery, the prosecutor continued:

"I ses to my companion, ses I--"

"I object," says Mr. Nimble.

And I pe