Quickly, a triumphant gleam in her eye, Toffee reached to the water pitcher at the side of the bench, emptied the elixir into it and poured a draft for the judge. "Here, judge," she said, "pull yourself together." The judge drained the glass and, closing his eyes, leaned back in his chair. Through the ensuing silence, Toffee returned to Marc's side. "His honor may see things a little differently now," she mused. "Why should he?" Marc said angrily. "All you've done is insult him." "I also fed him the elixir." "You--you gave him that!" "In the water," Toffee nodded. "I hope it works." "But it's unpredictable! There's no telling how he'll react." "Any change," Toffee said, "is bound to be an improvement." During this exchange, the judge seemed to have fallen into a doze. For a time, while the court waited breathlessly, he remained still, then he stirred. Drowsily, he opened his eyes and sat up. Looking enormously refreshed, he surveyed the defendants before him blankly for a moment and then, quite astonishingly, grinned with a sort of gentle mischievousness. He looked around at Sergeant Feeney, who had just returned from the cells. "Well, hello, sergeant," he said. He made an inquiring gesture toward the defendants. "Who are all these attractive people?" "Huh?" grunted Sergeant Feeney. "Why they're bein' tried, your honor." "Tried?" the judge said. "How do you mean?" "You're tryin' them, that's all," Sergeant Feeney said, puzzled. "I am!" the judge said. "Then I must stop it instantly. I assume that when you say they're being tried, you mean someone has been very trying with them. I can see, now that you mention it, they look a bit put out. Well, we'll have to do something about that." He smiled at Marc and Toffee and the others with winning graciousness. "I want you to know that I'm grateful to you all for coming today, and I'm sorry if I've bored you." He turned back to Sergeant Feeney. "Have I been lecturing on the life of the mollusk again, or something like that?" * * * * * Sergeant Feeney observed the judge quizzically. "Your honor, this is a gang of desperate criminals and you're the judge who's...." "Oh, no, no!" the judge laughed suddenly. "Oh, you're mistaken, sergeant! I'm no judge." His expression, however, became thoughtful. "It's curious, though, that you should think that, because I do have a vague recollection that I once was a judge--though it may have been a dream--and I wanted nothing more than to forget it. I got so weary of having to be virtuous all the time. But, I'm sure it was only a dream. Aren't you?" "Your honor!" the skinny nudist said plaintively. "I really think something ought to be done about our leaves!" "Your leaves?" the judge asked. "Yes, your honor. We need fresh ones desperately." "My, my," the judge said admiringly, "don't you all look cool and comfortable, though?" "Huh?" the nudist said. "You mean you aren't sore at us any more for being nudists?"