'It's worse than catchin' your whiskers in the mangle,' said Bill.
By a fortunate chance, at this moment the Possum happened to put his snout within Bill's reach, and Bill hit it a swinging clout to relieve his feelings.
'It's unlawful,' shouted the Possum, 'to hit a man's snout unexpectedly when he isn't engaged puddin'-stealing.'
'Observe the rules,' said the Wombat solemnly. 'Be kind to snouts when not engaged in theft.'
'If it hadn't been for you two tryin' to steal our Puddin' all this trouble wouldn't have happened,' said Bill.
'It's the Mayor's fault for bringing us all here,' cried the Possum, angrily. 'If you was a just man, you'd clout him on the snout, too.'
'The Mayor's to blame,' said the Wombat. 'What about the whole lot of us settin' on to him?'
At this suggestion the Mayor trembled so violently that his hat fell off.
'What dreadful words are these?' he asked, and the Constable said hurriedly, 'Never set on to the Mayor while the local Constable is present. Let that be your golden rule.'
'That's all very well,' said Bill, 'but if you two hadn't come interferin' at the wrong moment, our Puddin' wouldn't have been arrested, and all this trouble wouldn't have happened. As you're responsible, the question now is, What are you going to do about it?'