off so abruptly.

"What ground do you move upon, Mr. Ricochet."

Mr. Ricochet said, "The usual grounds, my lud; that is to say, that the
verdict was against the weight of evidence."

"Stop a minute," said Mr. Justice Doughty; "let me have my note correct,
'against the weight of evidence,' Mr. Ricochet."

"Misdirection, my lud--with all respect to Mr. Justice Pangloss--and
wrongful admission of evidence."

"What was the action for?"

Now this was a question that no man living had been able to answer yet.
What was in the pleadings, that is, the pattern of the lawyer's net, was
visible enough; but as regards merits, I predict with the greatest
confidence, that no man will ever be able to discover what the action of
_Bumpkin_ versus _Snooks_ was about. But it speaks wonders for the
elasticity of our system of jurisprudence and the ingenuity of our
lawyers that such a case could be _invented_.

"Trespass," said Ricochet, "was one paragraph; then there was assault and
battery; breach of contract in not accepting a pig at the price agreed;
trespass in seizing the pig without paying for it; and then, my lud,
there were the usual money counts, as they used to be called, to which
the defendant pleaded, among other pleas, a right of way; an easement;
leave and license; a right to take the pig; that the pig was the property
of the defendant, and various other matters. Then, my lud, there was a
counter-claim for slander, for assault and battery; for loss of profit
which would have been made if the pig had been delivered according to
contract; breach of contract for the non-delivery of the pig."

Mr. Justice Doughty: "This was pig-iron, I suppose?"

The two other Judges fell back, shaking their sides with laughter; and
then forcibly thrust their hands against their hips which made their
tippets stick out very much, and gave them a dignified and imposing
appearance. Then, seeing the Judges laugh, all the bar laughed, and all
the ushers laughed, and all the public laughed. The mistake, however,
was a very easy one to fall into, and when Mr. Justice Doughty, who was
an exceedingly good-tempered man, saw the mistake he had made, he laughed
as much as any man, and even caused greater laughter still by
good-humouredly and wittily observing that he supposed somebody must be a
pigheaded man. To which Mr. Ricochet laughingly replied, that he
believed the plaintiff was a very pigheaded man.

"Now," said Mr. Justice Pangloss, "h