Jorrocks' Jaunts and JollitiesSurtees, Robert Smith
General
Jorrocks' Jaunts and Jollities
Surtees, Robert Smith
England -- Fiction; Fox hunting -- Fiction; Hunting stories
"My eyes!" said Jorrocks, as he reached the top, "wot a pier, and wot
a bit of a place! Why, there don't seem to be fifty houses altogether,
reckoning the windmill in the centre as one. What's this thing?" said
he to a ticket-porter, pointing to a sort of French diligence-looking
concern which had just been pushed up to the landing end. "To carry the
lumber, sir--live and dead--gentlemen and their bags, as don't like to
walk." "Do you charge anything for the ride?" inquired Jorrocks, with
his customary caution. "Nothing," was the answer. "Then, let's get on
the roof," said J----, "and take it easy, and survey the place as we go
along." So, accordingly, we clambered on to the top of the diligence,
"summa diligentia," and seated ourselves on a pile of luggage; being all
stowed away, and as many passengers as it would hold put inside, two
or three porters proceeded to propel the machine along the railroad on
which it runs. "Now, Mr. Yorkshireman," said Jorrocks, "we are in a
strange land, and it behoves us to proceed with caution, or we may spend
our five pounds seven and sixpence before we know where we are."
_Yorkshireman_. Seven and ninepence it is, sir.
_Jorrocks_. Well, be it so--five pounds seven and ninepence between two,
is by no means an impossible sum to spend, and the trick is to make
it go as far as we can. Now some men can make one guinea go as far as
others can make two, and we will try what we can do. In the first place,
you know I makes it a rule never to darken the door of a place wot calls
itself an 'otel, for 'otel prices and inn prices are werry different.
You young chaps don't consider these things, and as long as you have
got a rap in the world you go swaggering about, ordering claret and
waxlights, and everything wot's expensive, as though you must spend
money because you are in an inn. Now, that's all gammon. If a man
haven't got money he can't spend it; and we all know that many poor
folks are obliged at times to go to houses of public entertainment,
and you don't suppose that they pay for fire and waxlights, private
sitting-rooms, and all them 'ere sort of things. Now, said he, adjusting
his hunting telescope and raking the town of Herne Bay, towards which we
were gently approaching on our dignified eminence, but as yet had not
got near enough to descry "what was what" with the naked eye, I should
say yon great staring-looking shop directly opposite us is the cock inn
of the place (looks through his glass). I'm right P-i-e-r, Pier 'Otel I
reads upon the top, and that's no shop for my money. Let's see what else
we have. There's nothing on the right, I think, but here on the left is
something like our cut--D-o-l dol, p-h-i-n phin, Dolphin Inn. It's long
since I went the circuit, as the commercial gentlemen (or what were
called bagmen in my days) term it, but I haven't forgot the experience I
gained in my travels, and I whiles turn it to werry good account now.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account