and with that he hit the Usher a smart crack on the head with a port bottle.
'Don't strike a poisoned man,' shouted the Usher; but the Judge went on smacking and cracking him with the bottle, singing—
'The emotion of pity
Need never be sought
In a Judge who's been poisoned
By Puddin' and Port.'
In desperation, the Usher leapt off the bench, and landed head first in the dock, where he stuck like a sardine.
'Too bad, too bad,' shouted the puddin'-thieves. 'Crowding in here where there's only room for two.' Before they could get rid of the Usher, the Judge bounded over the bench and commenced whacking them with the bottle, singing—
'As I find great satisfaction
Hitting anybody who
Can offer that distraction,
Why, I'll have a go at you,'
and he went on bounding and whacking away with the bottle, while the puddin'-thieves kept roaring, and the Usher kept screaming. The uproar was deafening.
'Just listen to it,' said Bill, in despair. 'I'd like to know how on earth we are going to finish the case with all this umptydoodle rumpus going on.'
'Why,' said Bunyip, 'the simpler course is not to finish the case at all.'