This slave pleaded senility and deafness in defence of his inability to follow the two rules of “what not to touch”. He demonstrated a further failure in the concept of counting strokes by repeating numbers and sometimes going backwards in an effort to extend his punishment. Mistress was outwitted, outsmarted and outstripped by this on-the-ball octogenarian who at all times kept his marbles totally intact …… Eight and four make twelve – but in this instance that is his age – fair play and hope for you all!
