“'Well, I guess if you—'
“'Answer the question,' said Catiline.
“'Oh, well—of course—'
“'Of course,' echoed Catiline. 'That's it, your honor; it is only “of course,”—and I rest my case. We have no witnesses to call. We have proven by their own witnesses that there is no evidence of Cerberus being more than one dog.'
“You ought to have heard the cheers as Catiline sat down,” continued Boswell. “As for poor Coke, he was regularly knocked out, but he rose up to sum up his case as best he could. Blackstone, however, stopped him right at the beginning.
“'The counsel for the plaintiff might as well sit down,' he said, 'and save his breath. I've decided this case in favor of the defendant long ago. It is plain to every one that Cerberus is only one dog, in spite of his many talents and manifest ability to be in several places at once, and inasmuch as the tax which is sued for is merely a dog-tax and not a poll-tax, I must render judgment for the defendants, with costs. Next case.'
“And the city of Cimmeria was thrown out of court,” concluded Boswell. “Interesting, eh?”
“Very,” said I. “But how will this affect Blackstone? Isn't he a City Judge?”
“No,” replied Boswell; “he was, but his term expired this morning, and this afternoon Apollyon appointed him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hades.”