They were to sleep in a double-bedded room, and they dined and drank pretty freely—the Jamaica Inn is now a temperance house—and went to bed. Before retiring to rest one of them put out the light.
After they had been in bed a little while Jemmy said, "I say, Sammy, there be a feller in my bed."
Sammy—"So there be in mine."
Jemmy—"What shall you do, Sammy?"
Sammy—"Kick 'un out."
Jemmy—"So shall I."
So they both proceeded to kick furiously, with the result that each fell out on the opposite side of the bed. By mistake in the dark the last to put out the light and go to bed had entered his brother's bed.
I have heard the same tale told of the Yorkshire moors some thirty to forty years ago.
The famous story of Rabbits and Onions, that Hicks would tell in such a way as to bring the tears rolling down the cheeks with laughter, may or may not be founded on fact, or it may be—and that is probably the case—a condensation into one tale of a good deal of experience with juries. But the same story is told by Rosegger of a trial in Styria.
The following is almost certainly genuine. Anyhow, it is an excellent example of the way in which Hicks could put a story.