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bit of work in it, and I was in the atelier when a gem-cutter shaved away the top of the stone, and copied your head of Prosperine on it from a Sicilian coin. I can show you a coin of the same stamp in my collection."

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And he showed me it, otherwise I might have remained incredulous. "These scarabs," he went on, are from Birmingham, I know the glaze. That gold Egyptian ring, Queen TAIA's do you say, is Coptic, Cairo is full of them. That head of CESAR is a copy from the one in the British Museum."

"Why, it is rough with age," I said.

"Ay, they've stuffed it down a turkey's crop, and it has got rubbed up in the gravel with which the ingenious bird assists the process of digestion. A man who could swallow that gem is a goose." I am presenting my esteemed collection of ancient engraved stones to my nephew at school, who shows all the character of the collector. He may swop them for bats, or tarts, or he may learn wisdom from the misfortunes of his uncle.

IN THIS STYLE, SIX-AND-EIGHTPENCE.

Mr. Badgerer, Q.C. (rising to cross-examine). Then you'assert that the golden dinner-service which we are inquiring about was in your possession on the evening of July 26th at half-past eight o'clock? Plaintiff. I do.

Mr. Badgerer, Q. C. And that when you went to take them out of the strong-box at 9.15 for your party they had disappeared? Plaintiff. Quite so.

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Mr. Badgerer, Q. C. Pardon my suggesting such a thing, but I am instructed to ask you whether, when you paid £800 to the ratecollector for arrears of rates on the very next day, you had not obtained that sum by selling a portion of this gold plate yourself? The Judge. Really, Mr. BADGERER, this won't do at all. Legal bullying" is a thing of the past, and I shall have to commit you for contempt if you make these unworthy suggestions to the Witness. Mr. Badgerer, Q. C. But, m'Lud, the whole point of the defence is that the Plaintiff himself sto

The Judge (hastily interposing). -Sh! You must not talk like that. Remember that "the floor of the Court is not the same thing as the interior of a coal-barge."

Mr. Badgerer, Q.C. (sulkily). Very well. But I really don't know how I am to conduct my case if your Ludship intervenes to check me. (To Witness.) I can ask you this at any rate. Did you or did you not run up to Town by an early train the morning after the robbery?

Plaintiff Certainly I did. I went to see my tailor, in Bond Street. Mr. Badgerer, Q.C. And why did you, then, go all the way from Bond Street to the City, eh?

Plaintiff (gravelled). My Lord, I must appeal for protection. The question is a bullying one.

The Judge. Oh, certainly! Counsel has no right to ask such things. He ought to take the charitable view of your actions, and suppose that you went to the City for a mid-day chop, or because you wanted to look at St. Paul's, or something of that kind. must really try and conduct our business as nobly as we can.

We

Mr. Badgerer, Q. C. (pleasantly). "Que Messieurs les assassins commencent!" Then we will presume that your predilection for City chops is so great, that you went a couple of miles out of your way to get one, and that your reason for dropping in at the establishment of Messrs. BLANK, Goldsmiths, and offering them half-adozen dessert-plates

The Judge (interrupting). Oh, really, this is not at allPlaintiff. Quite the reverse. I won't stay here to be insulted by anybody! [Exit hurriedly Mr. Badgerer, Q. C. I am afraid the Police Officers who are waiting outside to arrest our friend who has just left the box will also be denounced as "legal bullies." But after all one can't cross-examine a rogue on rosewater principles. And if we Barristers sometimes do make things rather rough for innocent Witnesses, by dragging out unpleasant incidents in their careers, or suggesting some that never occurred, by so acting we provide a powerful inducement to people to avoid having such unpleasant incidents to be dragged out. And if the fear of cross-examination prevents actions being brought, it thereby also prevents would-be litigants ruining themselves in law expenses. With submission, m'Lud, and if your Ludship pleases, I would say that we "legal bullies" are public benefactors in disguise.

The Judge. There's something in what you say, Mr. BADGERER. But the disguise need not be so complete as it is. I suppose it's a verdict for the Defendants? With costs, yes. Gentlemen of the Jury, I can't sufficiently express my sense of the nobility of your conduct in listening to the evidence as you have done though, of course, if you had not listened, I should have committed you all for contempt in double-quick time-and you will now return a verdict for the Defendants. [Left sitting.

"THE TRAVELLING COMPANIONS."-No. XXVI. next week.

LEGAL IMPROVEMENTS.

ANOTHER SAVING.

DURING THE ADJOURNMENT, THEIR LORDSHIPS WILL ASSIST IN THE REFRESHMENT DEPARTMENT.

Thirsty Attorney. "NOT TOO MUCH FROTH ON, MY LUD!"

TO POLICE CONSTABLES SMEETH AND TAPPIN. [In endeavouring to capture a gang of burglars at Greenwich, these two constables were dreadfully battered. But they kept up the pursuit until the ruffians were secured.]

YOUR hand, Mr. TAPPIN, your hand, Mr. SMEETH:
To the men who protect us we offer no wreath.
They face for our sakes all the rogues and the brutes,
Getting cracks from their bludgeons and kicks from their boots.

They are battered and bruised, yet they never give in,
And at last by good luck they may manage to win.
Then, their heads beaten in all through scorning to shirk,
Scarred and seamed they return without fuss to their work.

O pair of good-plucked 'uns, ye heroes in blue,

As modest as brave, let us give you your due.
Though we cannot do much, we'll do all that we can,
Since our hearts throb with pride at the sight of a Man.
Mr. SMEETH you 're a man, Mr. TAPPIN's another;
Mr. Punch-pray permit him-henceforth is your brother.
We are proud of you both, and we 'll all of us cheer
These Peelers from Greenwich who never knew fear.

MORE BONES TO PICK WITH THE SCHOOL BOARD. WE see there has been some churlish cavilling in some quarters because the School Management Committee of the London School Board passed a requisition in November last, sanctioning the purchase of an articulated skeleton for the Belleville Road School, at the very reasonable sum of £8 16s. Why make any bones about the matter? furniture than a human skeleton nearly six foot high? Still, should What more ornamental and indeed indispensable article of schoolthe past system of expenditure be continued in the future, Mr. Punch would suggest that excellent and infinitely cheaper substitutes for skeletons will be found in the persons of the rate-payers themselves.

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