"Ah!—an' wi' a fine view o' the graves!" growled Jeremy, leading the
way out.
In the street stood a chaise and four, surrounded by a pushing,
jostling throng of men, women, and children, who, catching sight of me
between the Bow Street Runners, forgot to push and jostle, and stared
at me with every eye and tooth they possessed, until I was hidden in
the chaise.
"Right away!" growled Jeremy, shutting the door with a bang.
"Whoa!" roared a voice, and a great, shaggy golden head was thrust in
at the window, and a hand reached down and grasped mine.
"A pipe an' 'baccy, Peter—from me; a flask o' rum—Simon's best, from
Simon; an' chicken sang-widges, from my Prue." This as he passed in
each article through the window. "An' I were to say, Peter, as we are
all wi' you—ever an' ever, an' I were likewise to tell 'ee as 'ow
Prue'll pray for 'ee oftener than before, an'—ecod!" he broke off, the
tears running down his face, "there were a lot more, but I've forgot it
all, only, Peter, me an' Simon be goin' to get a lawyer chap for 'ee,
an'—oh, man, Peter, say the word, an' I'll have 'ee out o' this in a
twinklin' an' we'll run for it—"
But, even as I shook my head, the postboy's whip cracked, and the
horses plunged forward.
"Good-by, George!" I cried, "good-by, dear fellow!" and the last I saw
of him was as he stood rubbing his tears away with one fist and shaking
the other after the chaise.
CHAPTER XLV
WHICH CONCERNS ITSELF, AMONG OTHER MATTERS, WITH THE BOOTS OF THE
SATURNINE JEREMY
"A bottle o' rum!" said the man Bob, and taking it up, very abstracted
of eye, he removed the cork, sniffed at it, tasted it, took a gulp, and
handed it over to his companion, who also looked at, sniffed at, and
tasted it. "And what d'ye make o' that, Jeremy?"
"Tasted better afore now!" growled Jeremy, and immediately took another
pull.
"Sang-widges, too!" pursued the man Bob, in a ruminating tone, "an' I
always was partial to chicken!" and, forthwith, opening the dainty
parcel, he helped himself, and his companion also.
"What d'ye make o' them, Jeremy?" he inquired, munching.
"I've eat wuss!" rumbled Jeremy, also munching.
"Young cove, they does you credit," said the man Bob, nodding to me
with great urbanity, "great credit—there ain't many misfort'nates as
can per-jooce such sang-widges as them, though, to be sure, they eats
uncommon quick—'old 'ard there, Jeremy—" But, indeed, the sandwiches
were already only a memory, wherefore his brow grew black, and he
glared at the still munching Jeremy, who met his looks with his usual
impenetrable gloom.
"A pipe and 'bacca!" mused the man Bob, after we had ridden some while
in silence, and, with the same serene unconsciousness of manner, he
took the pipe, filled it, lighted it, and puffed with an air of dreamy
content.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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