“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” she demanded.
“Ye-e-s!” stammered his Majesty, though what the poor little fellow had to be ashamed of was more than I could tell.
“I should think so, indeed,” commented the lady. “Now then, call the first witness.”
The first witness was A. Fish, Esq., who coughed importantly as he stepped up into the box with a jaunty air. “Let’s see, what’s your name?” asked the Doctor-in-Law, with a supercilious stare. Now, this was absurd, for, of course, he knew as well as I did what the Fish’s name was; but as I heard him whisper to Madame, the judges in England always pretend not to know anything, and he was doing the same.
“By dabe is A. Fish, you doe thadt well edough,” was the answer.
“Don’t be impertinent, or I shall commit you for contempt,” said the Doctor-in-Law, severely. “Now then—ah—you are a reptile of some sort, I believe, are you not?”
“Certainly dot!” was indignant reply.
“Oh! I thought you were. Er—what do you do for a living?”