“Did you see them before the assault?”
“No, sir. They appeared to spring suddenly out of a narrow passage. The attack was so sudden that I am unable to say with anything like exactness where they came from.”
“What have you to say to this charge?” inquired the magistrate of the prisoners.
“Please, yer honour, it’s all a mistake,” said one of the culprits. “Quite a mistake, I assure you. Nobody ever thought of hurting the gentleman in any way. I’m very sorry for what has occurred, and humbly beg his pardon, yer worship.”
“That’s no answer to the charge. After violently assaulting a passenger in the street in the manner you have done, it is but a poor satisfaction to the injured party to beg his pardon.”
“Well, gentlemen, I’ll tell yer how it happened if so be as ye’ll listen to me.”
“I’m all attention. Proceed.”
“It happened in this ’ere way. I was a walking down King-street last night when I seed this ’ere man—his fellow prisoner—he says to me, says he, ‘Do yer want any o’ this?’ and with that he up with his fists, and put himself in a boxing attitude. Well, yer honour, saving yer honour’s presence, I warn’t a goin’ to be put upon like that, and so I says to him, ‘You aint the man to give it me.’ ‘Aint I?’ says he. ‘No, ye’re not,’ says I. Well, gentlemen, them words were ’ardly out o’ my mouth, when he gave me a dab in the eye.”
“And you retaliated, I suppose.”
“I landed him one on the nose. With that he strikes out, and lets me have it on the jaw. Seeing as how he was a little too long in the reach for me, I closed with him, and we were a strugglin’ and a strugglin’ like anything. He forced me down a narrow passage, and tried to bump my head agen the wall of the court, not this court, yer honour, but the court or passage as runs out of King-street. Well, arter that I gets one of my feet agen the railing, and I shoves him out of the court with all my might. Just at that time, yer honour, the gentleman was a passin’, and we both on us run full butt agen him, but it warn’t no fault o’ mine, indeed it warn’t.”