This was lucky; he was about to begin to groan, as a "starter," as he called it, when it occurred to him that if he came into court with that argument, his aunt would pull it out, and that would hurt.
Juist wilde hij uit al zijn macht gaan kreunen, toen het hem in de gedachten schoot, dat, wanneer hij met die smart voor den dag kwam tante den tand zou uittrekken en dat pijn zou doen.