Sketches by Boz, Illustrative of Every-Day Life and Every-Day PeopleDickens, Charles
General
Sketches by Boz, Illustrative of Every-Day Life and Every-Day People
Dickens, Charles
London (England) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century; London (England) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction
There was a steadiness of purpose, and indignation of speech, about the
little gentleman, as he took an angry pinch of snuff, after this last
declaration, which made a visible impression on the mind of the red
cab-driver. He appeared to hesitate for an instant. It was only for an
instant; his resolve was soon taken.
‘You’ll pull me up, will you?’ said our friend.
‘I will,’ rejoined the little gentleman, with even greater vehemence an
before.
‘Very well,’ said our friend, tucking up his shirt sleeves very calmly.
‘There’ll be three veeks for that. Wery good; that’ll bring me up to
the middle o’ next month. Three veeks more would carry me on to my
birthday, and then I’ve got ten pound to draw. I may as well get board,
lodgin’, and washin’, till then, out of the county, as pay for it
myself; consequently here goes!’
So, without more ado, the red cab-driver knocked the little gentleman
down, and then called the police to take himself into custody, with all
the civility in the world.
A story is nothing without the sequel; and therefore, we may state,
that to our certain knowledge, the board, lodging, and washing were all
provided in due course. We happen to know the fact, for it came to our
knowledge thus: We went over the House of Correction for the county of
Middlesex shortly after, to witness the operation of the silent system;
and looked on all the ‘wheels’ with the greatest anxiety, in search of
our long-lost friend. He was nowhere to be seen, however, and we began
to think that the little gentleman in the green coat must have
relented, when, as we were traversing the kitchen-garden, which lies in
a sequestered part of the prison, we were startled by hearing a voice,
which apparently proceeded from the wall, pouring forth its soul in the
plaintive air of ‘All round my hat,’ which was then just beginning to
form a recognised portion of our national music.
We started.—‘What voice is that?’ said we. The Governor shook his head.
‘Sad fellow,’ he replied, ‘very sad. He positively refused to work on
the wheel; so, after many trials, I was compelled to order him into
solitary confinement. He says he likes it very much though, and I am
afraid he does, for he lies on his back on the floor, and sings comic
songs all day!’
Shall we add, that our heart had not deceived us and that the comic
singer was no other than our eagerly-sought friend, the red cab-driver?
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