He was as little averse to this toil as the cat is to that of catching mice.

And, indeed, he was not unlike a cat in his method of proceeding; for he would, as it were, hold his prey for a while between his paws, and pat him with gentle taps before he tore him.

He would ask a few civil little questions in his softest voice, glaring out of his wicked old eye as he did so at those around him, and then, when he had his mouse well in hand, out would come his envenomed claw, and the wretched animal would feel the fatal wound in his tenderest part.
Mankind in general take pleasure in cruelty, though those who are civilized abstain from it on principle.

On the whole Mr.
Chaffanbrass is popular at the Old Bailey.

Men congregate to hear him turn a witness inside out, and chuckle with an inward pleasure at the success of his cruelty.