"You know, of course, that it is the farmer's habit on these evenings to frequent some public-house; one night at Lydford, another at Brentor, and so on? There's nothing remarkable about that, but still you are well aware of it?" Peter was. "And you know what he goes there for? Everybody knows that. You know why you go to a public-house. You go to get beer, don't you?" "I du," said Peter with some enthusiasm. "Sometimes there is a glass too much, and you are not quite sure of the way home. That's only human nature. We all have our little failings. When you have that glass too much you might ride 'cruel hard,' as you express it, over the moor, without caring whether you had a spill or not. Probably you would have a tumble. Chegwidden comes off pretty often, I believe?" "More often that he used to du," mumbled Peter, not in the least knowing where he was being led. "Well, that's natural enough. He's getting older and less confident. Perhaps he drinks a bit harder too. A man can hardly find it easy to gallop over the rough moor when he is very drunk. Don't you feel surprised that Chegwidden has never hurt himself badly?" Peter was not flustered then. Counsel was half-sitting on the edge of the table, talking so nicely that Peter began to regard him as an old friend, and thought he would like to drink a few glasses with this pleasant gentleman who, he fancied, had a distinctly convivial eye. "'Tis just witchery," he said in a confidential manner, feeling he was in some bar-room, and the judge might be the landlord about to draw the beer. "He'm got a little charm to his watch-chain, and that makes 'en fall easy like." "I suppose he hadn't got it on that night?" "Forgot 'en, likely," said Peter with some regret, knowing that had Chegwidden been wearing the charm and chain he would have gained possession of them. Counsel smiled at Peter, and the witness grinned back, with a feeling that he was adding to his acquaintances. The next question followed quite naturally-- "I suppose Chegwidden was pretty far gone that night. Now I want you to use your memory, and tell me if you have ever seen him more drunk than he was that night?" "When us gets drunk us comes to a stop like," said Peter thoughtfully. "Us gets no drunker," he explained to his new friend. "You think Farmer Chegwidden had reached that stage? He could hardly have been more intoxicated than he was when you found him?" Peter admitted that the farmer's condition was unquestionably as his friend had stated. "He was dead drunk?" "Mucky drunk," said Peter with a burst of confidence. "You were not astonished, as you know he is an habitual drunkard?" Peter was just going to agree, when he remembered he didn't know the meaning of the word habitual. "He gets drunk frequently. Makes a habit of it," explained counsel. "He du," said Peter, in the emphatic manner which makes for good evidence. "Why did you say just now he was not drunk when you found him?" asked counsel smoothly.