"Instinctively each one of these disconsolates stretches forth the right hand to take a last embrace of a parent, child, brother, sister, mistress, or lover! But even this small consolation is denied; for, behold, the water is already forty feet wide, and nearly six feet deep! Then there are groans, and moans, and loud lamentations; and tears gush forth, falling like a summer's shower into the dividing waters. There is cast from each face one last, long, agonizing look; and those broken-hearted friends and relatives depart to their respective homes, to meet no more until they meet in heaven, and to smile no more on earth. "But hark! what sudden, horrid shriek is that? It comes from the Rumps! Oh, mercy dispel Yon sight that it freezes my spirit to tell! One of the little Rumps has been left on the other side of the canal! "Gentlemen of the jury, my feelings so overcome me that I can proceed no further, and must therefore submit the rights of my heathen client solely to your Christian mercy." The effect produced by Tony Belton's speech was extraordinary. Shouts of laughter burst from the spectators and the jury. Indeed, some of the latter were so overcome with merriment that they rolled from their benches upon the grass; the tears streaming from their eyes, and their whole frames apparently convulsed with laughter. "Where is Mr. Pate?" cried Simon Rump, when the tumult had, in some degree, subsided. "Mr. Pate! Mr. Pate! Where is Mr. Pate?" "Yonder he goes!" said a boy. "Great golly! ain't he riding!" "Go fetch him back! Go fetch him back!" cried Rump. "It would take Flying Childers to catch that old white horse!" said one of Rump's neighbors. "Your lawyer has gone, and you will now have to make a speech yourself." "My lawyer has run away! I am ruined! I am ruined!" exclaimed Rump. "Mount my horse, and ride after your attorney," said the sheriff, his sides shaking with laughter. "Make haste, Mr. Rump! The jury are waiting to hear his argument in reply to Mr. Belton." Simon Rump shook his head in despair. Rendered frantic by the ridicule of his merciless adversary, his attorney had rushed wildly from the scene of his discomfiture, mounted his horse, and galloped away, and poor Rump was left _inops consilii_. "Mr. Rump," said the sheriff, "the jury have requested me to inform you that they are ready to hear anything which you have to say. You are entitled to the closing argument." "I can't make a speech," said Rump; "and my lawyer has run away." "Then the case is submitted for the decision of the jury without further argument," said the sheriff. Rump mournfully nodded his head in acquiescence. Whereupon the twelve peers arose from their seats, and walked aside in consultation. They soon returned, and rendered a verdict for the defendant. Rump had to pay the costs, which amounted to one hundred dollars. He pulled out his pocket-book, and handed ninety dollars to the sheriff.