dodges. But the
opening words made him prick up his ears.

"My Lord," said counsel, "I submit there is here no case to go to the
jury. No written contract existed between the parties, to bring it
within the Statute of Frauds. Therefore, the plaintiff must prove that
the defendant accepted these goods. Now I submit to you, on the
plaintiff's own admission, that the man Murphy was a common carrier.
Your Lordship will know the cases of Hanson V. Armitage and various
others, in which it has been established beyond doubt that a carrier is
not an agent to accept goods."

The judge had revived, and while counsel called the quality of the
undelivered goods in question, and laid stress on the fact of no money
having passed, he turned the pages of a thick red book with a moistened
thumb. Having found what he sought, he pushed up his spectacles, opened
his mouth, and, his eyes bent meditatively on the speaker, picked a
back tooth with the nail of his first finger.

"Therefore," concluded counsel, "I hold that there is no question of
fact to go to the jury. I do not wish to occupy your Lordship's time
any further upon this submission. I have my client here, and all his
witnesses are in court whom I am prepared to call, should your Lordship
decide against me on the present point. But I do submit that the
plaintiff, on his own showing, has made out no case; and that under the
circumstances, upon his own evidence, this action must fail."

At the reference to witnesses, Mahony dug his pencil into the paper
till the point snapped. So this was their little game! And should the
bluff not work ...? He sat rigid, staring at the chipped fragment of
lead, and did not look up throughout the concluding scene of the farce.

It was over; the judge had decided in his favour. He jumped to his
feet, and his coat-sleeve swept the dust off the entire length of the
ledge in front of him. But before he reached the foot of the stairs
Grindle came flying down, to say that Ocock wished to speak to him.
Very good, replied Mahony, he would call at the office in the course of
the afternoon. But the clerk left the courthouse at his side. And
suddenly the thought flashed through Mahony's mind: "The fellow
suspects me of trying to do a bolt--of wanting to make off without
paying my bill!"

The leech-like fashion in which Grindle stuck to his heels was not to
be misread. "This is what they call nursing, I suppose--he's nursing ME
now!" said Mahony to hims