formance which Mr. Bouncer was wont to term "doing tumbies."
<VG179.JPG>
"What'll you take for your letters, Giglamps?" called out the little
gentleman from the other room; "the Post's in, and here are three for
you. Two are from women, - young uns I should say, from the regular
ups and downs, and right angles: they look like billyduxes. Give you
a bob for them, at a venture! they may be funny. The other is
suspiciously like a tick, and ought to be looked shy on. I should
advise you not to open it, but to pitch it in the fire: it may save a
fit of the blues. If you want any help over shaving, just say so,
Giglamps, will you, before I go; and then I'll hold your nose for
you, or do anything else that's civil and accommodating. And, when
you've done your tumbies, come in to the dove-tart and the
spread-eagle." And off went Mr. Bouncer, making terrible noises with
his post-horn, in his strenuous but futile endeavours to discover the
octaves.
Our hero soon concluded his "tumbies" and his dressing (~not~
including the shaving), and made his way to Mr. Bouncer's rooms,
where he did full justice to the dove-tart, and admired the
spread-eagle so much, that he thought of bribing the confectioner for
the recipe to take home as a Christmas-box for his mother.
"Well, Giglamps," said Mr. Bouncer, when breakfast was over, "to
spare the blushes on your venerable cheeks, I won't even so much as
refer to the billyduxes; but, I'll only ask, what was the damage of
the tick?"
"Oh! it was not a bill," replied Mr. Verdant Green; "it was a letter
about a dog from the man of whom I bought Mop last term."
"What! Filthy Lucre?" cried Mr. Bouncer; "well, I thought, somehow, I
knew the fist! he writes just as if he'd learnt from imitating his
dogs' hind-legs. Let's have a sight of it if it ain't private and
confidential!"
"Oh dear no! on the contrary, I was going to show it to you, and ask
your advice on the contents." And Verdant
[180 ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN]
handed to Mr. Bouncer a letter, which had been elaborately sealed
with the aid of a key, and was directed high up in the left-hand
corner to
"Virdon grene esqre braisenface
collidge Oxford."
"You look beastly lazy, Charley!" said Mr. Bouncer to Mr. Charles
Larkyns; "so, while I fill my pipe, just spit out the <VG180.JPG>
letter, ~pro bono~." And Charles Larkyns, lying in Mr. Bouncer's
easiest lounging chair, read as follows:-
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