. As witnesses in the
case, they had been precognosced to such an extent by the lawyers that
their intellects were almost overturned. On being told that he was to
be precognosced. Tim Rokens said stoutly, "He'd like to see the man as
'ud do it"; under the impression that that was the legal term for being
kicked, or otherwise maltreated; and on being informed that the word
signified merely an examination as to the extent of his knowledge of the
facts of the case, he said quietly, "Fire away!" Before they had done
firing away, the gallant harpooner was so confused that he began to
regard the whole case as already hopeless.

The other men were much in the same condition; but in a private meeting
held among themselves the day before the trial, Rokens made the
following speech, which comforted them not a little.

"Messmates and shipmates," said Tim, "I'll tell ye wot it is. I'm no
lawyer--that's a fact--but I'm a man; an' wot's a man?--it ain't a
bundle o' flesh an' bones on two legs, with a turnip a-top o't, is it?"

"Be no manes," murmured Briant, with an approving nod.

"Cer'nly not," remarked Dick Barnes. "I second that motion."

"Good," continued Rokens. "Then, bein' a man, I've got brains enough to
see that, if we don't want to contredick one another, we must stick to
the truth."

"You don't suppose I'd go fur to tell lies, do you?" said Tarquin
quickly.

"In coorse not. But what I mean to say is, that we must stick to what
we _knows_ to be the truth, and not be goin' for to guess at it, or
_think_ that we knows it, and then swear to it as if we wos certain
sure."

"Hear! hear!" from the assembled company.

"In fact," observed Glynn, "let what we say be absolutely true, and say
just as little as we can. That's how to manage a good case."

"An', be all manes," added Briant, "don't let any of ye try for to
improve matters be volunteerin' yer opinion. Volunteerin' opinions is
stuff. Volunteerin' is altogether a bad look-out. I know'd a feller, I
did--a strappin' young feller he was, too, more betoken--as volunteered
himself to death, he did. To be sure, his wos a case o' volunteerin'
into the Louth Militia, and he wos shot, he wos, in a pop'lar riot, as
the noosepapers said--a scrimmage, I calls it--so don't let any o' us be
goin' for to volunteer opinions w'en nobody axes 'em--no, nor wants
'em."

Briant looked so pointedly at Gurney while delivering this advice that
that obese individual felt