the lawyer of the village--he could tell
everybody what his rights were, if anybody had any besides Gale; but
he declared he had been done out of _his_ rights by a man who had lent
his old father some money on the bit of land I am coming to.

As we went along, what should we see but a rat! I knew what he was in
a moment, although I had never seen such a thing before, and knew I
had to hunt him. My lord cries, "_Cis_!--_rat, Jack_--_rats_!"

Away I went after the rat--I did not care what his name was--and Sir
Henry after me, with all the exuberance he used to show when he was
following the "Quorn." Presently we heard the dreadful orator's voice
using language only uttered, I am glad to say, amongst men.

"Where the h--l are you coming to like this?" he cried.

I forgot to say that our marshal was with us, and of course he took
upon himself to explain how matters stood; indeed, it was one of his
duties when Judges went out a-ratting to explain _who_ they were. So
when we arrived at the place where they were talking together, I heard
the dreadful man say,--

"Judge o' th' land! He ain't much of a judge o' th' land to tear my
flowers to pieces like that. Look at these 'ere toolips."

The marshal explained how that it was for the improvement of Sir Henry
Hawkins's health that a little fresh air was taken every morning.

"Lookee 'ere," says Gale, "I didn't know it wur the Judge doin' me the
honour to tear my flower-beds to pieces. I bin workin' at these 'ere
beds for months, and here they are spilt in a minit; but I tell
ee what, Orkins or no Orkins, he ain't gwine to play hell with
my flower-beds like that 'ere. If he wants the ground for public
improvement, as you call it, well, you can take it under the Act.
There's room enough for improvement, I dessay."

Now, instead of his lordship sending the man to prison, as I thought
to be sure he must do, he speaks to him as mild as a lamb, and tells
him he commends his spirit, and actually asks him what he valued the
flowers at. A Judge condescending to do that! This mollified the old
man's temper, and turned away his flowery wrath, so he said at once he
wasn't the man to make a profit out o' the circum_starnce_; but right
was right, and wrong worn't no man's right, with a great many other
proverbs of a like nature, which are as hard to get rid of amongst men
and women as precedents amongst Judges; and then the old man, much
against his will and inclination, had a sovereig