“Truly a most complacent man,” said Slapperton. “A little obstinate perhaps, but not a bad fellow in the main.”
“I s’pose you mean the lion’s main?” cried a rustic wit.
“Oh, yes, I see our friend here keeps the ‘Carved Lion.’ Very good indeed for an off-hander,” observed the lawyer; “and as most of you represent the agricultural interest,” he added, in continuation, “I’ll give you the particulars of a case which came under my own observation, as doubtless it will amuse you.
It was at Northamptonshire Sessions several years ago that a man was indicted for stealing a duck. The facts are simple enough, and you won’t require any stretch of imagination to comprehend the case as it was presented to the judge and jury.
As the prisoner was walking along the highway he was seen by a witness, who was journeying the same road, to enter a field, the gate of which opened on the highway, and seize a duck under his arm.
You must understand that he continued to walk in the same direction in which he had been going before, and that a little higher up on the road before him was the farmhouse belonging to the farm from which the duck was taken.
“Gad, he must ha’ had the impudence of a highwayman’s horse!” exclaimed one of the party.
Mr. Slapperton continued: This and the fact that he was apprehended with the duck under his arm, and was unknown to the witness or the constable, was the sole evidence adduced by the prosecution.
“And warn’t that enough?” said one of the company.
You shall hear. The defendant’s counsel said, “I understood you to say that you were walking behind the prisoner?”