This explanation, my boy, was satisfactory, and conveyed a grave moral lesson; but the court felt convinced
that the second charge could not be thus simply answered.
Captain Samyule Sa-mith set down the tumbler for a moment, and says he:
"You're not guilty on the first count, Villiam; but didn't you say that you wouldn't take the word of the General of the Mackerel Brigade?"
"Which I did," says Villiam.
"And what excuse have you to offer, my trooper?" says Captain Bob Shorty, pointing the question with his spoon.
"Is the general a gentleman?" says Villiam, searchingly.
The court believed him to be such.
"Ah!" says Villiam, "then if he's a gentleman, he always keeps his word, and of course it is impossible to take it."
Verdict of "not guilty, with a recommendation to mercy."