, much to
Platt's delight. Tindal was simply in an ecstasy, but did all he could
to suppress his enjoyment of the scene.

Then Platt resumed,--

"You think it was more of a blue smell like? Now, let me ask you,
there are many kinds of blue smells, from the smell of a Blue Peter,
which is salt, to that of the sky, which depends upon the weather. Was
it dark, or--"

"A kind of sky-blue, sir."

"More like your scarf?"

Up went Hodge's hand to see if he could feel the colour.

"Yes," said he, "that's more like--"

"Zummut like your scarf?"

"Yes, sir."

Then he was asked as to a variety of solids and liquids; and the man
shook his head, intimating that he could go a deuce of a way, but that
there were bounds even to human knowledge.

Then Platt questioned him on less abstruse topics, and to all of his
questions he kept answering,--

"Yes, my lord."

"Were fish remnants," asked Platt, "sometimes thrown into this
reservoir of filth, such as old cods' heads with goggle eyes?"

"Yes, my lord."

"_Rari nantes in gurgite vasto_?"

"Yes, my lord."

Thesiger could stand it no longer. He had been writhing while the
court had been roaring with laughter, which all the ushers in the
universe could not suppress.

"My lord, my lord, there must be some limit even to cross-examination
by my friend. Does your lordship think it is fair to suggest a
classical quotation to a respectable but illiterate labourer?"

Tindal, who could not keep his countenance--and no man who witnessed
the scene could--said,--

"It all depends, Mr. Thesiger, whether this man understands Latin."
Whereupon Platt immediately turned to the witness and said,--

"Now, my man, attend: _Rari nantes in gurgite vasto_. You understand
that, do you not?"

"Yes, my lord," answered the witness, stroking his chin.

Tindal, trying all he could to suppress his laughter, said:

"Mr. Thesiger, the witness says he understands the quotation, and as
you have no evidence to the contrary, I do not see how I can help
you." Of course, there was a renewal of the general laughter, but
Thesiger, in his reply, turned it on Platt.

This was my first appearance on circuit, and my first lesson from a
great advocate in the art of caricature.

* * * * *

No man at the Bar can forget the joy of his first brief--that
wonderful oblong packet of white papers, tied with the mysterious
pink tape, which his fourth share of the diminutive c