In court, the trucking company's lawyer was questioning Clyde
“Didn't you say, at the moment of the accident, ‘I'm fine.'” asked the lawyer?
Clyde responded, “Well, I'll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite mule, Bessie, into the…”
“I did not ask you for any details”, the lawyer interrupted
“Just answer the question. Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, ‘I'm fine?'”
Clyde said, “Well, I had just got Bessie into the trailer and I was driving down the road…”
The lawyer interrupted again and said, “Judge, I'm trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the highway patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question.”
By this time the judge was fairly interested in Clyde's answer and said to the lawyer, “I'd like to hear what he has to say about his favorite mule, Bessie.”
Clyde thanked the judge and proceeded.
“Well as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my favorite mule, into the trailer and was driving down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and Bessie was thrown into the other. I was hurting real bad and didn't want to move. However, I could hear old Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans.
When the highway patrolman came on the scene he could hear Bessie moaning and groaning so he went over to her. After he looked at her and saw her near fatal condition, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes.
Then the patrolman came across the road, gun still in hand, looked at me and said, ‘How are you feeling?'
Now what the heck would you say?”
