Being flattered by this, and by the feeling of the two guineas and half-crown, I dropped my hold upon Counsellor Kitch (for he was no less a man than that), and he was out of sight in a second of time, wig, blue bag, and family.  And before I had time to make up my mind what I should do with his money (for of course I meant not to keep it) the crier of the Court (as they told me) came out, and wanted to know who I was.  I told him, as shortly as I could, that my business lay with His Majesty’s bench, and was very confidential; upon which he took me inside with warning, and showed me to an under-clerk, who showed me to a higher one, and the higher clerk to the head one.

When this gentleman understood all about my business (which I told him without complaint) he frowned at me very heavily, as if I had done him an injury.

“John Ridd,” he asked me with a stern glance, “is it your deliberate desire to be brought into the presence of the Lord Chief Justice?”

“Surely, sir, it has been my desire for the last two months and more.”

“Then, John, thou shalt be.  But mind one thing, not a word of thy long detention, or thou mayst get into trouble.”

“How, sir?  For being detained against my own wish?” I asked him; but he turned away, as if that matter were not worth his arguing, as, indeed, I suppose it was not, and led me through a little passage to a door with a curtain across it.

“Now, if my Lord cross-question you,” the gentleman whispered to me, “answer him straight out truth at once, for he will have it out of thee.  And mind, he loves not to be contradicted, neither can he bear a hang-dog look.  Take little heed of the other two; but note every word of the middle one; and never make him speak twice.”

I thanked him for his good advice, as he moved the curtain and thrust me in, but instead of entering withdrew, and left me to bear the brunt of it.

The chamber was not very large, though lofty to my eyes, and dark, with wooden panels round it.  At the further end were some raised seats, such as I have seen in churches, lined with velvet, and having broad elbows, and a canopy over the middle seat.  There were only three men sitting here, one in the centre, and one on each side; and all three were done up wonderfully with fur, and robes of state, and curls of thick gray horsehair, crimped and gathered, and plaited down to their shoulders.  Each man had an oak desk before him, set at a little distance, and spread with pens and papers.  Instead of writing, however, they seemed to be laughing and talking, or rather the one in the middle seemed to be telling some good story, which the others received with approval.  By reason of their great perukes it was hard to tell how old they were; but the one who was speaking seemed the youngest, although he was the chief of them.  A thick-set, burly, and bulky man, with a blotchy broad face, and great square jaws, and fierce eyes full of blazes; he was one to be dreaded by gentle souls, and to be abhorred by the noble.