"But it's unpredictable! There's no telling how he'll react."
"Any change," Toffee said, "is bound to be an improvement."
During this exchange, the judge seemed to have fallen into a doze. For a time, while the court waited breathlessly, he remained still, then he stirred. Drowsily, he opened his eyes and sat up. Looking enormously refreshed, he surveyed the defendants before him blankly for a moment and then, quite astonishingly, grinned with a sort of gentle mischievousness. He looked around at Sergeant Feeney, who had just returned from the cells.
"Well, hello, sergeant," he said. He made an inquiring gesture toward the defendants. "Who are all these attractive people?"
"Huh?" grunted Sergeant Feeney. "Why they're bein' tried, your honor."
"Tried?" the judge said. "How do you mean?"
"You're tryin' them, that's all," Sergeant Feeney said, puzzled.
"I am!" the judge said. "Then I must stop it instantly. I assume that when you say they're being tried, you mean someone has been very trying with them. I can see, now that you mention it, they look a bit put out. Well, we'll have to do something about that." He smiled at Marc and Toffee and the others with winning graciousness. "I want you to know that I'm grateful to you all for coming today, and I'm sorry if I've bored you." He turned back to Sergeant Feeney. "Have I been lecturing on the life of the mollusk again, or something like that?"
Sergeant Feeney observed the judge quizzically. "Your honor, this is a gang of desperate criminals and you're the judge who's...."