120 HISTORY OF THE GRANGE MOVEMENT; OR, 



give 'im no chance ; I had 'im.' ' You swear to that 

 positively ? ' ' Yes, sir.' A look of dismay and disgust 

 settled upon the faces of the earlier witnesses for the 

 road, who had graphically and minutely described my 

 violent resistance, my kicks and blows. The spectators 

 giggled, and even the judge relaxed the solemnity of 

 his visage. ' Did anybody strike Mr. Coleman ? ' con- 

 tinued the lawyer. 'No, sir; I had 'im and didn't give 

 'em no chance.' ' You swear to that, too ? ' ' Yes, sir/ 

 ' Well, Mr. Witness, when you had Mr. Coleman's head 

 upon your arm, as you described, I suppose you had his 

 face turned a little toward your breast ? ' The witness, 

 eagerly following this description of the situation and 

 the gestures which illustrated it, his face now flushed 

 and beaded with perspiration (for the work was harder 

 than he had thought it), nodded assent. ' Mr. Cole- 

 man's mouth, then, would come about there ? ' inquired 

 the lawyer, pointing to the inside of the arm, next to 

 the body. 'Yes, sir; that's just the place where he bit 

 me.' * You swear to that positively ? ' l Yes, sir, posi- 

 tively.' All the witnesses for the road, except the con- 

 ductor, who did not commit himself as to the biting, 

 swore emphatically that the bite was on the outside of 

 the left arm, some of them placing the bitten man upon 

 the left of the biter; and now comes a third untutored 

 witness, who claimed to be the sufferer, and who of 

 course ought to know the place of the bite, testifying 

 with equal positiveness that the bite was on the inside 

 of his arm. Even the counsel for the road could not 

 refuse to join in the universal merriment which ensued. 

 " On subsequent trials all this testimony as to the 

 biting was rearranged. The victim of my ferocity was 

 obliged to share the honor of taking me out with five 



