own pocket, eh?"

"I don't know," said Dick. "I don't think he did steal it. But even if
he did, you see it didn't belong to him."

"It's a frightful jumble altogether," said Georgie. "I think law's a
beastly thing. If the pawnbroker chooses to _give_ money on the boat--"

"Oh, it's not the pawnbroker--it's the fellows the boat belonged to."

"But, I tell you, Tom's one of the fellows himself."

"Well, it's the other fellows."

"We may as well have another go of chocolates now, in case they get
squashed up going in," suggested Coote, who avoided the legal aspect of
the case.

The door opened at last, and our heroes, some of whom knew the ways of
the place, made a stampede over the forms and through the witness-box
into the front seat reserved for the use of the public, where they
spread themselves out luxuriously, and celebrated their achievement by a
further tax on the friendly Duffield's creams.

The court rapidly filled. The interest which Tom White's case had
evoked had grown into positive excitement since his arrest, and our
heroes had reason to congratulate themselves on their punctuality as
they saw the crowded forms behind them and the jostling group at the
door.

"There's Webster at the back; shall you nod to him?" asked Heathcote.

"Yes--better," said Dick, speaking for the "Firm."

Whereupon all three turned their backs on the bench and nodded cheerily
to Mr Webster, who never saw them, so busy was he in edging his way to
a seat.

Having discharged this public duty our heroes resumed their seats just
in time to witness the arrival of the usher of the court, followed by a
man in a wig, and a couple of reporters.

"It's getting hot, I say," said Dick, speaking more of his emotions than
of the state of the atmosphere.

It got hotter rapidly; for two of the Templeton police appeared on the
scene and looked hard at the front public bench. Then the solicitors'
seats filled up, and the magistrates' clerk bustled in to his table.
And before these alarming arrivals had well brought the perspiration to
our heroes' brows, the appearance of two magistrates on the bench sent
up the temperature to tropical.

"Order in the court!" cried the usher.

Whereupon Duffield, in his excitement, dropped a chocolate on the floor
and turned pale as if expecting immediate sentence of death.

However, the worst was now over. And when it appeared that the two
magistrates were bluff, good-humoured squires, who