Comical People | Page 8

bitterly. I comforted the poor fellow as well as I
could, and did not give him the least grounds for suspecting that I had
been a witness of his behaviour. In a little time he became calmer, and
then he told me that the report of his own pistol had frightened him so
much, that, for his life, he could not help running away.
It was not many days after this that Tom came to me again, evidently in
great pain; and, from the broken sentences that escaped him, I learned
that as he and his brother Bob were walking in the public road,
Chanticleer had met them; and after calling Tom by every abusive
name he could think of, had ended by thrashing him with a riding-whip,
till the unfortunate youth could scarcely stand. I thought this was
carrying the matter too far, so I walked home with him to speak to his
father about it. The old gentleman was very much excited at Tom's
account of the quarrel; he had not heard a word about it till that day,
and said that Chanticleer should pay dearly for what he had done; and
as for Tom's mother, she fainted away at first, and ended by urging her
husband to prosecute that rascal Chanticleer, even if it cost them their
last grain of food. She thought but little of what she was saying then,
but she remembered it afterwards.
On that very afternoon old Mr. Leverett and Bob took the railway to
Gloucester, and went at once to the celebrated lawyer, Mr. Sharpe
Vulture, of Billocost Row. Mr. Vulture, who was just going home to
dinner, and was both hungry and savage, heard their story with great
impatience, told them to come again the next morning, and bade them
good day. He thus saved his dinner hot, and pocketed an extra fee for
an additional consultation. His client, little used to lawyers' pleasantries,
thought this behaviour very strange; but as he had some relations close
by the town, he resolved that he and Bob would spend the night with

them, and they told me they were most hospitably entertained.
On the next morning the father and son again called on the celebrated
Mr. Sharpe Vulture, and this time with better success, for that worthy
recommended that Mr. Leverett should first apply to a magistrate for a
warrant against Mr. Chanticleer; and, secondly, that Tom should
commence an action against him for the assault.
To both these courses old Leverett offered no opposition; and on Bob's
evidence Sir Simon Graveowl, a magistrate of noted wisdom, granted a
warrant against Chanticleer, which Mr. Sharpe Vulture immediately
gave to an active young policeman to execute. Now, it happened to be
market-day at Gloucester, and as Mr. Chanticleer was a large consumer
of barley, he usually attended the Corn Exchange during certain hours.
This the policeman knew; so no sooner had he received the warrant
than he walked straight to Mr. Chanticleer as he stood talking loudly to
a large circle of friends and neighbours,--old Mr. Drake, young Mr.
Gosling, Mr. Peacock, Mr. Pidgeon, Mr. Swann, and several
others,--and forthwith arrested him. Poor Mr. Chanticleer! how
crest-fallen he looked! All his crowing was stopped in a moment. He
walked by the policeman's side in silence, and looked as much like a
culprit as any thief that was ever found with the stolen goods in his
possession.
The policeman, thrown off his guard by Chanticleer's quietness, walked
by his side without holding him, and of this my neighbour was not slow
to avail himself; for just as they had passed a narrow street, he suddenly
ran back, and, with a loud noise, flew along the pavement as if twenty
Sharpe Vultures were pursuing him. The policeman was not slow to
follow; and when the unfortunate Chanticleer was stopped by a sentinel
at the gate of the barracks, he seized his prisoner with such violence by
his red neck-tie, that he almost strangled him there and then.
Old Leverett chuckled to himself, and was greatly delighted to see
Chanticleer brought into the magistrate's room by two policemen, one
holding him tightly by each arm. Mr. Sharpe Vulture immediately
brought forward the accusation against the prisoner. Bob's evidence
was taken: it was declared that Tom was too unwell from the effects of

the assault to attend in person, and Mr. Chanticleer was fined five
pounds. For this amount he immediately wrote an order on his
bankers,--Brier, Primrose, and Whitethorn; and then, greatly to old
Leverett's chagrin, the prisoner was discharged, and all parties left the
court.
Mr. Sharpe Vulture advised instant proceedings at law. Accordingly, an
action was brought for damages; but through some little informality,
the plaintiff was defeated, and had to pay his own and Mr. Chanticleer's