to understand what language they were in. But I managed to
catch a few words:

"Biz--biz--biz--biz--biz--otherwise known as Luke the
Hermit, of--biz--biz--biz--biz--for killing his partner
with--biz--biz--biz--otherwise known as Bluebeard Bill on the night
of the--biz--biz--biz--in the biz--biz--biz--of Mexico. Therefore Her
Majesty's--biz--biz--biz--"

At this moment I felt some one take hold of my arm from the back, and
turning round I found the Doctor had returned with one of the men in
white wigs.

"Stubbins, this is Mr. Percy Jenkyns," said the Doctor. "He is Luke's
lawyer. It is his business to get Luke off--if he can."

Mr. Jenkyns seemed to be an extremely young man with a round smooth face
like a boy. He shook hands with me and then immediately turned and went
on talking with the Doctor.

"Oh, I think it is a perfectly precious idea," he was saying. "Of COURSE
the dog must be admitted as a witness; he was the only one who saw the
thing take place. I'm awfully glad you came. I wouldn't have missed this
for anything. My hat! Won't it make the old court sit up? They're always
frightfully dull, these Assizes. But this will stir things. A bulldog
witness for the defense! I do hope there are plenty of reporters
present--Yes, there's one making a sketch of the prisoner. I shall
become known after this--And won't Conkey be pleased? My hat!"

He put his hand over his mouth to smother a laugh and his eyes fairly
sparkled with mischief. "Who is Conkey?" I asked the Doctor.

"Sh! He is speaking of the judge up there, the Honorable Eustace
Beauchamp Conckley."

"Now," said Mr. Jenkyns, bringing out a notebook, "tell me a little more
about yourself, Doctor. You took your degree as Doctor of Medicine at
Durham, I think you said. And the name of your last book was?"

I could not hear any more for they talked in whispers; and I fell to
looking round the court again.

Of course I could not understand everything that was going on, though it
was all very interesting. People kept getting up in the place the Doctor
called the witness-box, and the lawyers at the long table asked them
questions about "the night of the 29th." Then the people would get down
again and somebody else would get up and be questioned.

One of the lawyers (who, the Doctor told me afterwards, was called the
Prosecutor) seemed to be doing his best to get the Hermit into trouble
by asking questions which made it look as though he had always been a