hance--for
neglecting their immense herds of cattle and suffering them to roam
all over the country, putting temptation in the way of poor people, and
causing confusion and recklessness of all kinds. Some of these cattle
are never seen from the time they are branded till they are mustered,
every two or three years apparently. They stray away hundreds of
miles--probably a thousand--who is to know? Possibly they are sold. It
was admitted by the prosecutor that he had sold 10,000 head of cattle
during the last six years, and none had been rebranded to his knowledge.
What means had he of knowing whether these cattle that so much was said
about had not been legally sold before? It was a most monstrous thing
that men like his clients--men who were an honour to the land they lived
in--should be dragged up to the very centre of the continent upon
a paltry charge like this--a charge which rested upon the flimsiest
evidence it had ever been his good fortune to demolish.

With regard to the so-called imported bull the case against his clients
was apparently stronger, but he placed no reliance upon the statements
of the witnesses, who averred that they knew him so thoroughly that they
could not be deceived in him. He distrusted their evidence and believed
the jury would distrust it too. The brand was as different as possible
from the brand seen to have been on the beast originally. One short-horn
was very like another. He would not undertake to swear positively in
any such case, and he implored the jury, as men of the world, as men
of experience in all transactions relating to stock (here some of the
people in the court grinned) to dismiss from their minds everything
of the nature of prejudice, and looking solely at the miserable,
incomplete, unsatisfactory nature of the evidence, to acquit the
prisoners.

It sounded all very pleasant after everything before had been so rough
on our feelings, and the jury looked as if they'd more than half made up
their minds to let us off.

Then the judge put on his glasses and began to go all over the evidence,
very grave and steady like, and read bits out of the notes which he'd
taken very careful all the time. Judges don't have such an easy time of
it as some people thinks they have. I've often wondered as they take so
much trouble, and works away so patient trying to find out the rights
and wrongs of things for people that they never saw before, and won't
see again. However, they try to do