The Lady of the Barge and Others, Entire Collection — John Shaqi
The Lady of the Barge and Others, Entire CollectionJacobs, W. W. (William Wymark)
General
The Lady of the Barge and Others, Entire Collection
Jacobs, W. W. (William Wymark)
England -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Humorous stories, English; River life -- Fiction
Old Thomas seemed to be listening. ’Is eyes was open, and ’e looked
artful at Bill to think what a clever thing ’e’d done.
“Nobody’s goin’-to spend-_my_ money,” ’e says. “Nobody’s——”
We drew back from ’is bunk and stood staring at ’im. Then Bill turned
to the boy.
“Go and tell the skipper ’e’s gone,” ’e says, “and mind, for your own
sake, don’t tell the skipper or anybody else that you’ve thrown all
that money overboard.”
“Why not?” says Jimmy.
“Becos you’ll be locked up for it,” says Bill; “you’d no business to do
it. You’ve been and broke the law. It ought to ha’ been left to
somebody.”
Jimmy looked scared, and arter ’e was gone I turned to Bill, and I
looks at ’im and I says “What’s the little game, Bill?”
“_Game?_” said Bill, snorting at me. “I don’t want the pore boy to get
into trouble, do I? Pore little chap. You was young yourself once.”
“Yes,” I says; “but I’m a bit older now, Bill, and unless you tell me
what your little game is, I shall tell the skipper myself, and the
chaps too. Pore old Thomas told ’im to do it, so where’s the boy to
blame?”
“Do you think Jimmy _did?_” says Bill, screwing up his nose at me.
“That little varmint is walking about worth six ’undered quid. Now you
keep your mouth shut and I’ll make it worth your while.”
Then I see Bill’s game. “All right, I’ll keep quiet for the sake of my
half,” I says, looking at ’im.
I thought he’d ha’ choked, and the langwidge ’e see fit to use was
a’most as much as I could answer.
“Very well, then,” ’e says, at last, “halves it is. It ain’t robbery
becos it belongs to nobody, and it ain’t the boy’s becos ’e was told to
throw it overboard.”
They buried pore old Thomas next morning, and arter it was all over
Bill put ’is ’and on the boy’s shoulder as they walked for’ard and ’e
says, “Poor old Thomas ’as gone to look for ’is money,” he says;
“wonder whether ’e’ll find it! Was it a big bundle, Jimmy?”
“No,” says the boy, shaking ’is ’ead. “They was six ’undered pound
notes and two sovereigns, and I wrapped the sovereigns up in the notes
to make ’em sink. Fancy throwing money away like that, Bill: seems a
sin, don’t it?”
Bill didn’t answer ’im, and that afternoon the other chaps below being
asleep we searched ’is bunk through and through without any luck, and
at last Bill sat down and swore ’e must ha’ got it about ’im.
We waited till night, and when everybody was snoring ’ard we went over
to the boy’s bunk and went all through ’is pockets and felt the
linings, and then we went back to our side and Bill said wot ’e thought
about Jimmy in whispers.
“He must ha’ got it tied round ’is waist next to ’is skin, like Thomas
’ad,” I says.
We stood there in the dark whispering, and then Bill couldn’t stand it
any longer, and ’e went over on tiptoe to the bunk ag’in. He was
tremblin’ with excitement and I wasn’t much better, when all of a
sudden the cook sat up in ’is bunk with a dreadful laughing scream and
called out that somebody was ticklin’ ’im.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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