172 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL; 



at the cottage, he started next morning early; 

 and arrived before the magistrate, as I have 

 already stated. The unexpected appearance of 

 Susanne, and the certainty of what the conse- 

 quences would inevitably be, smote these guilty 

 people, and occasioned the scene which concluded 

 my last. 



The worthy magistrate, who was well acquaint- 

 ed with the bad characters before him,instantly saw 

 there was something wrong ; and desiring Susanne 

 C. to retire for a short time with the officer into 

 the private room for witnesses, called for David's 



nephew, R. C . A sour-looking, brazen-faced, 



clumsy country clown, about twenty, now appeared. 

 He of course was not sworn; but in the most 

 happy unconsciousness of the proximity of his 

 sister, declared he was in the Pinte with his uncle, 

 and confirmed him in everything he had said. 

 He looked around for the approval of David, and 

 the pintier ; but they had not sufficiently recovered 

 their usual effrontery. Nannette, however, man- 

 aged to grin a ghastly smile at him. 



" Vols tu voir cette vilaine! Bohemiennel " 

 cried a voice from the gallery. 



"Elle a encore Vinsolence de rire. J'espere bien 

 qu 1 elle aura ce qui* die merite," bawled out 

 another old market-woman. 



"Silence, s'il vons plait, Id haut!" shouted 

 the officer. 



The Magistrate then said, — "Let David's son 

 step forward. And immediately a little insolent 

 blackguard, a thorough " chip of the old block," 

 came jumping in. 



il Your name, my lad," said the magistrate. 



" Henry, monsieur." 



" David est votrepere ? " 



" Oui, Monsieur." (Grinning). 



What have you to say about this business? 

 Where were you ? " 



" J'ai accompagne la mere pour aller chercher 

 lepere et j'ai tout vu." 



" Vous avez tout vu, voyons I " 



" J'ai vu Bombyx et Jean, lis allaient tuer le 

 pauvre P." 



Magistrate. — " Comment ? en plein jour, Us 

 allaient le tuer f " 



" Oui, monsieur lejuge." 



Magistrate. — " Voyons qu'est ce que vous avez 

 done fait? " 



"Je me suis sauve avec lepere et la mere. J'avais 

 bienpeur." 



David's brother was next examined, and he 

 declared that Bombyx and Jean grossly ill-treated 

 and furiously attacked R. — who would most assur- 

 edly have been killed if he had not forcibly pulled 

 him into the Pinte. " They were like two great 

 serpents, monsieur le juge." 



Really said the Magistrate, Bombyx and Jean 

 seem to be very extraordinary people. 



" lis out saute comme des tigres, monsieur le 

 juge. J'etais bien aise de me trouver dans le 

 Pinte. J'avais horriblement peur." 



"I am not surprised at it," said the judge. 



The whole tribe of R.'s witnesses were now 

 examined in succession, and all more or less (of 

 course) confirmed his statement. The evidence 



of P d, cadet, was rather rich, and therefore I 



must give you a specimen of it. 



" Now P d," said the worthy magistrate, 



" what do you know of this business ? '' 



" J'etais par hazard au Pinte." 



" Ilparait P d," said the magistrate, " que 



le hazard vous amene assez souvent vers le Pinte. 



P d, with a bewitching smile, and passing 



the fourth finger of his right hand through his 

 frizzling locks, proceeded to whisper out, " Quel- 

 quefois seulement, monsieur lejuge. 



" Eh bien, continuez." 



P d. — "J'aivu Monsieur avec ses casson- 



ades ! " 



Magistrate. — u Avec quoi f avec ses casson- 

 ades ! comment ? " 



P d. — " Oui monsieur', iletaitld, avec ses 



cassonades." 



Magistrate. — " Qu'est ce que cela veut dire ?" 



" Je suis perdu," P d, aine, whispers to 



him. 



P d, — cadet (smiling). — " Je me suis bel 



trompe ; ce n'est pas cassonades" 



Magistrate — " J 'en suis bien aise; quoi doncV 



P d, cadet — Jl y etait, monsieur lejuge, avec 



ses deux cannonades. (Roars of laughter from 

 the gallery, which seemed to infect everybody 

 in court. The worthy magistrate in vain at- 

 tempted to look grave ; it was useless ! " 



Officer. — " Silence, s'il vous plait. II est 

 impossible de continuer." 



Magistrate. — " Avec deux cannonades ? 

 Voyons, P d, — tdchez de vous expliquer." 



P— ; — d, cadet. — " J'm suis ben expliqua ; 

 monsieur e'est ben vra." 



Magistrate. — " Comment deux cannonades— 

 deux cannonades I " 



P d, cadet. — "Ouia da." 



Magistrate. — Voyons done qui etaient ces deux 

 cannonades ? 



P d, cadet. — "Jean etait un etpuis Francois 



V autre." 



Magistrate. — Oh! J 'y suis. Vous voulez dire 

 deux camarades. 



P d, cadet. — Ah, Diantre, monsieur, a bien 



raison. Oh! que e'est charmant de savoir 

 parler. 



He finished, however, like all the others, 

 by confirming R — 's story, like a true disciple. 

 By this time, Nannette and the rest had got more 

 composed. 



" Now," said the magistrate, " bring forward 

 Susanne C. And forward she came. 



" Eh le diable ! shouts one. " Que cela veut 

 dire i " squeaked another. " Eh que vois 

 je ? la Susanne qu'est ce qu'elle veut ici?" 



Magistrate. — " Je vous prie, Susanne, de nous 

 raconter ou vous etiez teljour et telle heure." 



Susanne C. — " J'etais a laitry, dans la vigne." 



Magistrate, — " Etiez vous seule, ou est ce qu'il 

 y avait qu'elqu un avec vous f " 



Susanne C. — " Non, monsieur lejuge, je n'Ctais 

 par seule. 21 y avait lu monfrere P., mon oncle 

 David, et sa femme Nannette, et mon cousin 

 Henry." (Tremendous sensation.) 



Magistrate (evidently very much pained). — 

 " Comment? vous etes bien sur ? " 



Susanne C. — " Oui, monsieur lejuge." 



Magistrate. — " A quelle heure ont Us quitte' 

 la vigne ? " 



Susanne C. — " Quand il fesait nuit. C&ait 

 trop obscur pour pouvoir plus travailler. Ce 

 pourrait etre vers les huite heures et quart." 



(Grumblings and murmurings in the gallery, — 



