The Child of Waterloo, or, The Horrors of the Battle-Field — page 274: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE CHILD OF WATERLOO. 371 : **Go down, witness,” said the judge; ‘‘ the court cannot listen to such remarks.” But the court had listened, and a buzz of applause greeted the hostler as he stepped from the witness-box. The next witness called was our old friend, Troubled Tom, and in vain was his name shouted by the crier within the court, and the officers without it. He could not be found, and the counsel for the prosecution looked about him despairingly until ae received a note from the hostler, and after perusing it e said: ‘“If there be any one asleep in any corner of the court, it is probably the witness, who has a great aptitude to pass his time in that way.” ‘* Please, here’s a boy in this corner has been leaning on my back, and snoring this half-hour,” said a voice. **That’s our man,” said the counsel. With some difficulty Troubled Tom was aroused to the neces- sity of putting in an appearance in the witness-box; and, when he got there, he rubbed his eyes and winked a great many times before he was awake enough to know what he was about. ‘‘Now,” said the counsel] for the prosecution, $‘‘do you know where you are, my man? J ask you. because 1 wish the jury to be convinced that you are wide awake.” ‘*Oh, ah! it’s a good deal of trouble.” ‘‘Come, come; you have been brought to London to give evidence, and have just taken an oath that what you shall say shall be the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Do you remember, on the night named in the indictment, being in the farm-vyard at the back of the Morton Arms?” a | eee you. How should you like your stomach trod upon ?” RN Stop a bit; we shall come to that in due time. What time did you go there?” ‘Oh! I felt a little sleepy, cos I badn’t had anything like a rest for ever so long; people is always, somehow or another. dis- turbing 0° me, so, just about dark, I thought I'd go there, and have a little sleep.” ** What happened to you?” “Why, somebody put his foot on the outside o’ my inside, and that rather waked me up, you see. Then I seed a jolly row.” ‘Should you know the person again ?” **Oh! yes; I never forgets nobody—not I. JIshould know him —-a ugly fellow with a knife in his hand.” ; ‘** Look at the prisoner at the bar, and tell the jury if that is the man.” Troubled Tom looked. and then nodded his head, as he said, ‘“Oh! they’ve caught you, have they? It sarves you right. You won’t tread on people’s outsides again when they is trying all for to get a wink o' sleep. You know you killed the young man while he was trying to get a wink o’ sleep, and you killed the dog ‘cos he was a-trying to rest himself a little. I wouldn’t comicbooks. com