“Here, a quarter of an hour ago,” said William the Conqueror. “It was me nobbled him.”
“Not me—I,” said Henry the First.
“You!” exclaimed the Conqueror. “Why, what do you expect if you tell lies like that?”
“I didn’t mean I got him,” explained Henry. “I meant you should say it was I.”
“I shan’t say it was you, when it was me,” said William. “I’m not given to that style of thing, I can tell you.”
“No, no,” began Henry again. “What I mean is, that instead of saying it was me—”
“Who said it was you? I said it was me.”
“Yes, and that’s where you make a mistake. You should say—”
“Look here,” said Henry the Eighth, “suppose you settle that outside. The thing is—whoever nobbled him, as William says—hadn’t we better give him a cold chop, now we’ve got him?”
“Better try him first,” said John. “I make a strong point of that in Magna Charta, you know.”