The judge took one look at this nerve-twisting innovation and rallied to a final effort. He reached for his gavel and brought it down feebly on the bench.
"Dismissed!" he whizzed. "Dismissed! I dismiss everything. For the love of Hannah, dismissed!"
Suddenly the court broke into pandemonium. The traffic to the doors was disordered and chaotic as the members of the audience trampled each other to be out of the place. In front of the bench George perceived regretfully that he had lost his audience, dissolved himself for one last time and sank slowly down to the floor.
Beneath the table, Marc roused himself and sat up to rub his head. As he did so, Toffee instantly appeared beside him.
"What happened?" he asked vaguely.
"How should I know?" Toffee asked tartly. "Just when things were getting interesting you passed out and dissolved me." She glanced from beneath the table. "Now it's all over."
She crawled out from beneath the table and gathered the scraps of her costume which had remained abandoned on the floor. As she quickly zipped everything into place, she looked around.
"The judge went away without even saying goodbye," she said injuredly.
CHAPTER VII