There was a titter, promptly suppressed, but the witness stared blankly at the crowd without a twinkle in his eye.
“Well, what was Bill doing while you were putting the pony in?”
“Bill!” A long pause of thought. “Oh, Bill! ’E wor sittin i’ ’edge looking on.”
“Was Bill drunk?”
“What, Bill drunk? Na-ay, ’e wor no more drunk nor your lordship.”
A second and more prolonged titter.
“Well, what was the other man doing?” I asked.
“Oh, you mean Jim. Let me see. Jim wor lying on ’is back in the road. Some boys got ’old of ’im and began draggin’ ’im by the ’eels round the common. ’E wor a bit drunk, ’e wor.”
“Very drunk, I should say,” commented the Court severely.
“Na-ay,” dissented the witness with deep seriousness. “Na-ay, I doan’t think so. It was sea air