"Gad! you'll be committing contempt of yourself," suggested the Captain.
"Like that snake that swallows itself, eh?"
"What snake?" asked the Captain, with interest.
"The snake in the story," answered the Chief Justice; and he added in an undertone—"Why can't that fellow sit still?"
Mr. Coxon had wandered to the window again, and was thrumming on the panes. He turned on hearing some one enter. It was Sir Robert Perry.
"Well," he began, "I bring news of the event of the day."
"About to-night?" asked Coxon eagerly.
"To-night! That's not the event of the day. Ministers are a deal commoner than murders. No, last night."
Coxon turned away disappointed.