Now, in the
presence of these law reports, Mr. Fiddlestick, in the goodness of his
heart, saw an opportunity of creating a diversion, and he created it with
a vengeance. For, throwing his weight suddenly forward as though by
accident, or in a movement of impatience, he brought his bent arm against
the pile with such force, that he sent every book, and there must have
been more than twenty of them, over the desk, right on to the head and
shoulders of his choleric client, Mr. Addison, who was sitting
immediately beneath, on the solicitors' bench.
Down went the books with a crash and a bang, and, carried away by their
weight, down went Mr. Addison on to his nose among them--a contingency
that Fiddlestick, Q.C., by-the-way, had not foreseen, for he had
overlooked the fact of his client's vicinity.
The Judge made an awful face, and then, realising the ludicrous nature of
the scene, his features relaxed into a smile. But Mr. Addison did not
smile. He bounded up off the floor, books slipping off his back in every
direction, and, holding his nose (which was injured) with one hand, came
skipping right at his learned adviser.
"You did it on purpose!" he almost shouted, quite forgetting where he
was; "just let me get at him, I'll have his wig off!" and then, without
waiting for any more, the entire audience burst out into a roar of
laughter, which, however, unseemly, was perfectly reasonable; during
which Mr.
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