“For what it was worth.”

“Exactly.  And if he had no terrier, it’s quite obvious that the car out of which the Sealyham jumped was not his, but somebody else’s?”

“Undoubtedly,” said Berry.  “As a matter of fact, it was ours.”

The explosion of mirth which this statement provoked showed that his headlong progress towards the pit which he had digged had been gleefully followed by nearly everybody in Court, and counsel turned very pale.

“Have you ever discussed this case with any one?”

“I have.”

“Who with?”

Berry took a deep breath.

“Well, I haven’t seen my dentist lately, but I think everybody else I know has had it.”

“Have you discussed it with the other witnesses?”

“Ad nauseam.”

“Have you indeed?  Perhaps that explains why you all tell the same tale?”

“That,” said Berry coolly, “is an infamous suggestion.”

Somebody gave an audible gasp, and there was a breathless silence.  Sitting back in his padded chair, the Judge might have been a graven image.

“Sir?” thundered counsel interrogatively.

“And one beneath the dignity of even a stuff gown.”

For a long moment the two men looked one another full in the eyes.  Then counsel sat down somewhat unsteadily....

Berry was followed by an expert witness, called to substantiate our contention that two hundred pounds was a fair charge for the execution of such repairs to the Rolls as the accident had necessitated, and that another two hundred for the hire of a similar car for the month during which our own was in dock, was not excessive.

As he stepped down from the box—­

“That, my lord,” said our leader, “is the case for the plaintiff.”

It was a quarter to one when Berry’s antagonist rose again to his feet.  Shortly he opened his case.  Nothing, he said, was more difficult to prove than a negative.  But for one thing, it might have gone hard with an innocent man.  Everything looked very black, but, as luck would have it, most fortunately for himself, Mr. Bladder could prove incontestably that upon the twenty-second of May his car never left its garage, for the very good reason that its engine was down.  “I shall call the defendant, and I shall call before you his chauffeur.  Both will tell you in detail that the dismantling of the engine was commenced at ten in the morning, and that by half-past twelve—­a few minutes before the actual time of the accident—­the operation was completed.”  That the plaintiff had suffered an injury he did not attempt to deny.  As a fellow-motorist, he had Mr. Bladder’s whole-hearted sympathy.  His annoyance was justified, but he could not expect Mr. Bladder to pay the penalty for somebody else’s misdeeds.  He had no doubt that the witnesses honestly believed that they had correctly memorized the letters and figures upon the number-plate.  It was his duty to satisfy the Court that they were mistaken....