"Not got such a rummy-shaped waist as his brother, though," whispered
Cottle.

"All right, young Cottle, I'll take it out of you, you'll see."

"What'll you take! I keep mine outside," replied Cottle.

"Order in the court. Forge away, Wheatfield."

"I should like to know how I'm to forge away, with these two asses
fooling about down here? Why can't you raise them to the bench to keep
them quiet? Oh yes--well, you see, this kid, being new, and green, and
about as high old an idiot as they make them--did you fellows see him on
first-night? I say! oh my--"

"Look here, Wheatfield," said the judge, sternly, "if you aren't done in
three minutes, I'll call the next witness."

"_He_ wouldn't know anything about it, bless you," said Percy. "You
see, it was like this--this kid thought I was Wally--what do you think
of that?"

"Cheek. Jolly rough on Wally," remarked Cash. The witness looked at
the interrupter, and tried to make out whether his remark was a
compliment or the reverse. He decided that, as he had only three
minutes left, he had better defer thinking the question out till
afterwards.

"So, of course, he began to swagger about his big brother--"

"No, you asked me--" began the prisoner.

"Shut up," cried Percy, sternly, "how am I to get done in three minutes
if--"

"Only two left now," said Ramshaw.

"Go on, Ram, I've not been a minute yet."

"Yes, you have--sixty-five seconds," said Ramshaw, who held his watch in
his hand.

"I never did believe in those Waterbury turnips, they always stop when
you--oh yes!--swaggered about his big brother and all those fellows over
there, and blabbed out there'd been a regular plant among 'em to rig the
Elections, and he and a lot of 'em had been out canvassing and bagged a
lot of our kids and locked them out, and if it hadn't been for that,
Brinkman would have pulled off the treasurership, and if it hadn't been
for me getting wind of it, and going and fetching them out and bringing
them into Hall in the nick of time, Ranger would have got the
secretaryship, and our side would have been jolly well out of it, and I
mean to say it's a howling swindle--and--hope--there'll--be--a--jolly--
good--row kicked--up--and--you--needn't--say--I--let--out--about it--
because--Wally--asked--me--to--keep--it--mum--and I--said--"

"Time's up," said Ramshaw. "No side?"

Whereupon the witness stopped short triumphantly, like an athlete who
has just won his race by a neck