Bunyip ran into the witness-box and, with a ready wit, shouted: 'I have dreadful news to impart to this honourable Court.'
All eyes, of course, turned on Bunyip, who, raising his hand with an impressive gesture, said in thrilling tones: 'From information received, it has been discovered that the Puddin' was poisoned at ten-thirty this morning.'
This news restored order at once. The Judge turned pale as lard, and the Usher, having a darker complexion, turned as pale as soap. The Puddin' couldn't turn pale, so he let out a howl of terror.
'Poisoned,' said the Usher, feebly. 'How, how?'
'Poisoned,' said the Judge, feeling his stomach with trembling hands. 'Until this moment I was under the delusion that a somewhat unpleasant sensation of being, as it were, distended, was merely due to having eaten seven slices. But if—'
'If,' said the Usher, in a quavering voice—
'If you take a poisoned Puddin'
And that poisoned Puddin' chew
The sensations that you suffer
I should rather say were due
To the poison in the Puddin'
In the act of Poisoning You.
And I think the fact suffices
Through this dreadfulest of crimes,
As you've eaten seven slices
You've been poisoned seven times.'
'It was your idea having it up on the bench,' said the Judge, angrily, to the Usher. 'Now,
'If what you say is true,
That idea you'll sadly rue,
The poison I have eaten is entirely due to you.
It's by taking your advice
That I've had my seventh slice,
So I'll tell you what I'll do
Why, I'll beat you black and blue,'