316 " MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE ! " 



had furnished the names and addresses of about fifty 

 people who, he said, had ceased to deal with him in con- 

 sequence of the libel. We sent round to all these and, 

 without exception, they all denied the truth of the plaintiff's 

 particulars. The plaintiff again wore a green tie, but 

 Baron Huddlestone made short work of him. It was left 

 to the jury whether the statements complained of were a 

 libel at all, and if so whether we had justified them. 

 The jury, without leaving the box, found that there was 

 no libel, and there was judgment for the defendants, with 

 costs. 



It is needless to say that not a farthing of costs was ever 

 recovered from the plaintiff, and we had been pursued in 

 this manner for fully a year and a half for what the jury 

 ultimately decided was not a libel at all. Our own expenses 

 amounted to fully 1500, and it was particularly aggra- 

 vating that constant newspaper reports led to the idea that 

 we were always libelling people, whereas it was the same 

 old bogus case all the way through. Mr Akers Douglas 

 more than once, when I used to go to Downing Street 

 to hear any scraps of news, said to me : " Surely you 

 must be rather indiscreet to be involved in so many libel 

 cases ! " 



This interminable case ended at last, however, and for 

 a while there was respite from legal troubles. 



