noon
said I , and Fred laughed as he passed it to me . For the moment I think he thought I meant to plunge it into the too talkative official 's breast . First they called a few township cases . A drunken Muhammedan was fined five rupees , and a Hindu was ordered to remove his garbage heap before noon . Three natives were ordered to the chain-gang for a week for fighting , and a Masai charged with stealing cattle was remanded . Then my case was called , very solemnly , by a magistrate scarcely any older than myself . The police officer acted as prosecutor .