Those Extraordinary Twins

change and improve his religion with frequency, which wearied Luigi, and annoyed him too; for he had to be present at each new enlistment-which placed him i

gracefully. When the evening was come, the two attended the Free-thinkers' meeting, where Angelo was sad and silent; then came the Bible class and looked upon him coldly, finding him in such company. Then they went to Wilson's house and Chapter XI of Pudd'nhead Wilson follows, which tells of the girl seen in Tom

great and the public curiosity so intense, that when the justice of the peace opened his court, the place was packed wi

id Wilson by the defense. Tom, his native cheerfulness unannihilated by his back-breaking and bone-bruising passage ac

'm throwing my business your way.

u-particularly if you

If I find you deserve it I'll take you under my p

to deserve

orn in; then

nt at the Market Hall last night; they kicked him with violence; with extraordinary violence; with even unprecedented violence, I may say; insomuch that he was lifted en

n mentioned; that he was close at hand and saw the defendants in this acti

witness,"

the plaintiff. Are you sure-and please remember that you are on oath-are you p

e. He hesitated, stammered, but got out nothing. His eyes wande

ou are keeping the court waitin

rosecution broke

Necessarily, they both kicked him, for they have but th

id, sarca

e of the utmost value just at this moment-knowledge which would at once dispose of what every o

, petulantly. The audience laughed

nsinuatingly, "we shall have to ins

I do not absolutely k

opinion, sir-answ

can't an

, Mr. Harknes

discomfited witness retired in

swore that he saw the twins kic

se took t

se gentlemen kick the plaintiff. Do I underst

r,"-with

know that

I saw the

, and got another wa

you know that both,

of them equally, for they were called a pair of scisso

Stick to facts-counsel will a

h went over the

good.

h kicked him-

i, here, willing to join the

in, too, and drank a glass o

other willi

s a teetotaler, and was e

en a glass

He wouldn't drink it. He set it down." A slight pause, then he added,

but as the justice was caught out himse

rotest against these foolish irrelevanc

e of them enjoys whisky and the other doesn't, but sets it aside and leaves it unprotected" (titter from the audience), "it seems to show that they have independent minds,

does. It's per

k the plaintiff last night, and that the other didn't want that humiliating punishment

e. I don't believe the blond one would k

d went on with an angry sentence which was los

keman," said Wilson,

had seen the twins kick the plain

saw these accused gentl

s,

of t

s,

hem kicked

oth kicked him a

rfectly sur

s,

es you su

ht behind them, a

kicks were

ly

result should be two

yes, as

u think went wit

asn't thinking of two be

you thi

ink, but I reckon that one of them did half of

ut: "It's the first sane thi

he judge said: "Silence!

d, but Wilson did not s

w give you a chance to come out with something positive, one way or the other, and shall require you to produce it. I will ask the

by the court.) Another Voice: "No, give Tommy anoth

alone, without the slightest assistance from his brother. Watch sharply, for you have got to render a decision without any if's and ands it." Rogers bent himself behi

ready, Mr

dy s

k was l

hat one classif

tudy a mi

you please. Let me kno

all eyes and a breathless interest fastened

ic

d was an exact duplic

an individual kick, not a mutual one. You will

id, with a cre

n't any man in the world that cou

that last night's kic

, I don

our honor, very well; but as far as I am concerned I am ready to let the case

sore trouble to the lawyers, for his rulings were pretty eccentric sometimes, and he stood by them with Roman simplicity and fortitude; but the people were well satisfied with him, for they saw that his intentions were always

been committed it is plain to anybody; but the way things are going, t

him, earnestly but respectfully, "you are d

that an assault has been committed. The attempt to show that both of the accused committed it has failed. Are they both to escape justice on that account? Not in this court,

ss to my clients I must insist that inasmu

also the public and the offended laws. Mr. Allen, you will amen

y arbitrarily altering and widening the charge against him in order to compass his conviction w

rd of

of this or an

to know what they are. I am responsible for this court, and I cannot conscientiously allow my judgment to

he oldest and highe

lause.) "Silence! It has not been the custom of this court to imitate other courts; it has not been the custom of this court to take shelter behind the decisions of other courts, and we will not begin now. We will do the best we can by the light that God has given us, and

hispering a moment with his client and with

ing a specific term of days, and then passing to the other brother for a like term, and so on, by regular alternation. I could call witnesses who would prove that the accused had revealed to them the existence of this extraordinary fact, and h

be hearsay. We shall see. It may at least help t

ow present, and I beg that Mrs. Patsy Cooper m

he was going by compulsion and would not go if he could help himself. Also, that the Count Luigi had replied sharply that he would go, just the same, and that he, Count Luigi, would

e, with grave and earnest satisfaction. "It looks as if the Count

Mr. Buckstone on direct examinat

at time was it that that

yesterday e

proceed direct

s,

it take you

ge of the town, and there was no hurry, I judge it

our was the k

n minutes and

r. Buckstone. How did you happen to look

It's likely I shall be called as a wi

hing said, between the conversation at my house and the

, s

nine, and passed into the possession of the other one during the next t

no m

all, Mr.

etsy Hale, as escort and support, smiling and bowing in her wake, the audience breaking into welcoming cheers as the old favori

ver a volley of eager questions at the friends around them: "What is this thing for?" "What is that thing for?" "Who is that young man that's writing at the desk? Why, I declare, it

for the blessing of a new sensation and a novel experience still beamed undimmed from their eyes. Aunt Patsy stood up and took the oath, and Mr. Allen explained the point in issue,

egs a week at a time, and then they are Angelo's

said the judge. "You shouldn't state that as

don't?" said Aunt Pat

reason that y

e world because

sn't a

's sake! Betsy Hale

facing the court. "Why, Judge, I was there and heard it

rs. Hale, pray

I'm going to sit down pres

must si

d if things ain't gettin

ought to order, and meantime Mr. Allen persuaded t

I know it's true. They're L

t, did they?" said the

I know, without that, that at dinner yesterday, Angelo was as tired as a dog,

ask fo

omehow, that-that-Aunt Betsy,

-she is not a witness; we only want to know

ously particular about a little thing, Sim Robinson.

lease

ime?" said Aunt Betsy. "Why, with a person pecking at m

into her seat once more, while the court squel

nything these gentlemen have told you-that the power over thei

the exactness of it! All the big cities in Europe used to

the question. Please answe

ou. You didn't invent it out of your own head, did you? Why, these twins are the truthfulest people in the world; and I don't think it becom

as the house was weltering in a storm of laughter, and the judge was hammering his desk with an iron pap

ladies

e right, in the interest of

cise it, Mr. Wilson-the

, ruffled; "and what's it thr

we can save these poor persecuted strangers, it is our

re, there,

om one to the other every Saturday night at twelve o'clock sharp. But on cross-examination their counsel would not allow them to tell whose week of power the current week was. The judge insisted upon their answering, and proposed to compel them, but

ible witnesses; 3, but that his identity is so merged in his brother's that we have not been able to tell which was him. We cannot convict both, for only one is guilty.

e old ladies made a spring at the twins, to shake and congratulate, but wer

ed spectacles, roached his gray hair up with his fingers, and s

in their pernicious decisions. I wash my hands of this iniquity. I would have compelled these culprits to expose their guilt, but support failed me where I had most right to expect aid and encouragement. And I was confronted by a law made in the interest of crime, which protects the criminal from testifying against himself. Yet I had precedents of my own whereby I had set aside that law on two different occasions and thus succeeded in convicting criminals to whose crimes there were no wi

concerning your case which stinks to heaven with the rankness of its injustice. By its terms you, the guilty one, go free with the in

through the hurrahing crowd, while lots of new friends carried Pudd'nhead Wilson off tavern-ward to feast him and "wet down" his great and victorious entry into the legal arena. To Wi