It is in vain that the Judge endeavours to question her, in vain that the High Bailiff tries to calm her, in vain that the clerk lays his hand on her arm—­she is bent on telling the Defendant a bit of her mind.  The Court is perforce compelled to wait till it is over, when the Judge, seeing that talking is of no avail, goes at once to the root of the matter and asks to see her books.  A dirty account-book, such as may be purchased for threepence, is handed up to him; the binding is broken, and some of the leaves are loose.  It is neither a day-book, a ledger, nor anything else—­there is no system whatever, and indeed the Plaintiff admits that she only put down about half of it, and trusted to memory for the rest.  Here is a date, and after it some figures, but no articles mentioned, neither tea nor candles.  Next come some groceries, and the price, but no one’s name, so that it is impossible to tell who had the goods.  Then there are pages with mysterious dots and strokes and half-strokes, which ultimately turn out to mean ounces and half-ounces of tobacco.  These have neither name nor value attached.  From end to end nothing is crossed off, so that whether an account be paid or not cannot be ascertained.

While the Judge laboriously examines every page, trying by the light of former experience to arrive at some idea of the meaning, the Defendant’s wife takes up her parable.  She chatters in return at the Plaintiff, then she addresses the High Bailiff, who orders her to remain quiet, and, finally, turns round and speaks to the crowd.  The Judge, absorbed in the attempt to master the account-book, does not for the moment notice this, till, as he comes to the conclusion that the book is utterly valueless, he looks up and finds the Defendant with her back turned gesticulating and describing her wrongs to the audience.  Even his command of silence is with reluctance obeyed, and she continues to mutter to herself.  When order is restored the Judge asks for her defence, when the woman immediately produces a receipt, purporting to be for this very eight shillings’ worth.  At the sight of this torn and dirty piece of paper the Plaintiff works herself into a fury, and speaks so fast and so loud (as deaf people will) that no one else can be heard.  Till she is made to understand that she will be sent out of Court she does not desist.  The Judge looks at the receipt, and finds it correct; but still the Plaintiff positively declares that she has never had the money.  Yet she admits that the receipt is in her handwriting.  The Judge asks the Defendant who paid over the cash, and she replies that it was her husband.  The account-book contains no memorandum of any payment at all.  With difficulty the Judge again obtains silence, and once more endeavours to understand a page of the account-book to which the Plaintiff persists in pointing.  His idea is now to identify the various articles mentioned in the receipt with the articles put down on that particular page.