"You fell down--pitched down--I remember, while climbing." "No, sir, I--" "Look here, you dog," he hissed between his teeth; "you fell down, do you hear? and cut your head when climbing. Do you understand?" "No, sir, I--" "Once more, Antony Grace, listen to me. If anyone asks you how you came by that cut, mind--you fell down when climbing--you fell down when climbing. If you forget that--" He did not finish, but seemed to hold me with his eye as he played with the ruler and made it go up and down. "Look here, my boy, you are my clerk, and you are to do exactly as I tell you. Now, listen to me. The day after to-morrow there is to be a case of assault brought before the magistrates, and you will be sworn as a witness. You let Mr Wooster in--curse him!--and you saw him come up to my table where I was sitting, and make a demand for money." "Please, sir, I did not hear him ask for money." "You did, sir," he thundered; "and you saw him strike me with his stick." "Yes, sir, I saw him strike you," I cried hastily. "Oh, you did see that, did you?" he said in sneering tones. "Yes, sir." "Did you see the stick break?" "Yes, sir," I said eagerly. "Oh, come; I'm glad you can remember that. Then he caught up the poker and beat me with it heavily across the body, till the poker was bent right round; and at last, when I was quite stunned and senseless, and with the blood streaming from my lips, he left me half dead and went away." There was a pause here, during which I could not take my eyes from his. "You saw all that, didn't you?" "No, sir," I said, "he did not take the poker." "What?" "He did not take the poker, sir." "Oh! and he did not beat me with it till it was bent?" "No, sir." "Go and fetch that poker," he said quietly; and I went trembling, and picked it up, to find it quite bent. "There, you see?" he said. "Yes, sir, it is bent." "Of course it is, Antony. You don't remember that he struck me with it, eh?" "No, sir," I said, trembling. "Ah, I shall have to refresh your memory, my boy. You remember, of course, about the blood?" "No, sir." "What's that on the floor?" I looked down at the place to which he pointed with the bent poker, and there were some dark stains where I had fallen. Then, raising my eyes to his again, I looked at him imploringly. "I shall soon refresh your memory, Antony," he said, laughing silently, and looking at me so that I shivered again. "You will find, on sitting down and thinking a little, that you recollect perfectly well how Mr Wooster beat me cruelly with the poker, till it was bent like this, and left me bleeding terribly on the office floor. There, hold your tongue. You'll recollect it all. Sit down and try and remember it, there's a good boy. I'm better now, but I can't talk much. Let me see, Antony, what time do you go to bed?" "Nine o'clock, sir," I faltered.