ng
groans from the breast of a boiled onion.'

'Why, it's worse than droppin' soverins down a drain,' said Sam.

'It's worse than catchin' your whiskers in the mangle,' said Bill.

By a fortunate chance, at this moment the Possum happened to put his
snout within Bill's reach, and Bill hit it a swinging clout to relieve
his feelings.

'It's unlawful,' shouted the Possum, 'to hit a man's snout unexpectedly
when he isn't engaged puddin'-stealing.'

'Observe the rules,' said the Wombat solemnly. 'Be kind to snouts when
not engaged in theft.'

'If it hadn't been for you two tryin' to steal our Puddin' all this
trouble wouldn't have happened,' said Bill.

'It's the Mayor's fault for bringing us all here,' cried the Possum,
angrily. 'If you was a just man, you'd clout him on the snout, too.'

'The Mayor's to blame,' said the Wombat. 'What about the whole lot of us
settin' on to him?'

At this suggestion the Mayor trembled so violently that his hat fell
off.

'What dreadful words are these?' he asked, and the Constable said
hurriedly, 'Never set on to the Mayor while the local Constable is
present. Let that be your golden rule.'

'That's all very well,' said Bill, 'but if you two hadn't come
interferin' at the wrong moment, our Puddin' wouldn't have been
arrested, and all this trouble wouldn't have happened. As you're
responsible, the question now is, What are you going to do about it?'

'My advice is,' said the Constable, impressively, 'resign yourselves to
Fate.'

'My advice,' said the Mayor in a low voice, 'is general expressions of
esteem and friendship, hand-shaking all round, inquiries after each
other's health, chatty remarks about the weather, the price of potatoes,
and how well the onions are looking.'

Bill treated these suggestions with scorn. 'If any man in the company
has better advice to offer, let him stand forth,' said he.

Bunyip Bluegum stood forth. 'My advice,' he said, 'is this: try the case
without the Judge; or, in other words, assume the legal functions of
this defaulting personage in the bag-wig who is at present engaged in
distending himself illegally with our Puddin'. For mark how runs the
axiom--

'If you've a case without a Judge,
It's clear your case will never budge;
But if a Judge you have to face,
The chances are you'll lose your case.
To win your case, and save your pelf,
Why, try the blooming case yourself!'

'As usual, our friend here solves the problem in