'You mustn't interrupt, sir.—You didn't see the bottom of the loaf?'
The witness's little eyes snapped.
'Not eggzactly.'
'Did the rector speak to you?'
The witness smiled. 'The rector wouldn' never stop me if I was passin'. I collects the rates.'
The rector's laugh, so like a desolate dog's bark, killed the bubble of gaiety rising in the court; and again that deathly little silence followed.
Then the Chairman said:
'Do you want to ask him anything?'
The rector turned. 'Why d' you tell lies?'
The witness screwing up his eyes, said excitedly: