here acknowledged the man's
authenticity, and encouraged the little maid--three and three-quarters,
you know!--to further testimony. It came fairly fluently, considering
the witness's recent acquisition of the English language.

"He doos know Mrs. Picture, ass he doos, and he saided Mrs. Picture to
Micky, ass he did." This was plenty for a time, and during that time the
witness could go on nodding with her eyes wide open, to present the
subject lapsing, for she had found out already how slippery grown-up
people are in argument. Great force was added by her curls, which lent
themselves to flapping backwards and forwards as she nodded.

It was impossible to resist such evidence, outwardly at least, and Uncle
Mo appeared to accept it. "Then the man said Mrs. Picture to Dave," said
he. "And Dave told it on to you, was that it?" He added, for the general
good of morality:--"_You're_ a nice lot of young Pickles!"

But this stopped the nodding, which changed suddenly to a negative
shake, of great decision. "The man never saided nuffint to Dave, no he
didn't."

"Thought you said he did. You're a good 'un for a witness-box! Come up
and sit on your old uncle. The man said Mrs. Picture to young
Sparrowgrass--was that it?" Dolly nodded violently. "And young
Sparrowgrass he passed it on to Dave?" But it appeared not, and Dolly
had to wrestle with an explanation. It was too much involved for
letterpress, but Uncle Mo thought he could gather that Dave had been
treated as a mere bystander, supposed to be absorbed in angling, during
a conversation between Michael Ragstroar and the Man. "Dave he came home
and told you what the Man said to Micky--was that it?" So Uncle Mo
surmised aloud, not at all clear that Dolly would understand him. But,
as it turned out, he was right, and Dolly was glad to be able to attest
his version of the facts. She resumed the nodding, but slower, as though
so much emphasis had ceased to be necessary. "Micky toldited Dave," she
said. She then became immensely amused at a way of looking at the event
suggested by her uncle. The Man had told Micky; Micky had told Dave;
Dave had told Dolly; and Dolly had told Uncle Mo, who now intensified
the interest of the event by saying he should tell Aunt M'riar. Dolly
became vividly anxious for this climax, and felt that this was life
indeed, when Uncle Mo called out to Aunt M'riar:--"Come along here,
M'riar, and see what sort of head and tail you can make of this here
lit