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
Bill looked at ’im and then ’e steps to the ladder. “I’m not going to
talk to you any more, my lad,” ’e says. “I’m going to tell the
skipper.”
He went up slowly, and just as ’e reached the deck Jimmy started up and
called ’im. Bill pretended not to ’ear, and the boy ran up on deck and
follered ’im; and arter a little while they both came down again
together.
“Did you wish to speak to me, my lad?” says Bill, ’olding ’is ’ead up.
“Yes,” says the boy, fiddling with ’is fingers; “if you keep your ugly
mouth shut, we’ll go shares.”
“Ho!” says Bill, “I thought you throwed it overboard!”
“I thought so, too, Bill,” says Jimmy, very softly, “and when I came
below ag’in I found it in my trousers pocket.”
“Where is it now?” says Bill.
“Never mind where it is,” says the boy; “you couldn’t get it if I was
to tell you. It’ll take me all my time to do it myself.”
“Where is it?” says Bill, ag’in. “I’m goin’ to take care of it. I won’t
trust you.”
“And I can’t trust you,” says Jimmy.
“If you don’t tell me where it is this minute,” says Bill, moving to
the ladder ag’in, “I’m off to tell the skipper. I want it in my ’ands,
or at any rate my share of it. Why not share it out now?”
“Because I ’aven’t got it,” says Jimmy, stamping ’is foot, “that’s why,
and it’s all your silly fault. Arter you came pawing through my pockets
when you thought I was asleep I got frightened and ’id it.”
“Where?” says Bill.
“In the second mate’s mattress,” says Jimmy. “I was tidying up down aft
and I found a ’ole in the underneath side of ’is mattress and I shoved
it in there, and poked it in with a bit o’ stick.”
“And ’ow are you going to get it?” says Bill, scratching ’is ’ead.
“That’s wot I don’t know, seeing that I’m not allowed aft now,” says
Jimmy. “One of us’ll ’ave to make a dash for it when we get to London.
And mind if there’s any ’ankypanky on your part, Bill, I’ll give the
show away myself.”
The cook came down just then and we ’ad to leave off talking, and I
could see that Bill was so pleased at finding that the money ’adn’t
been thrown overboard that ’e was losing sight o’ the difficulty o’
getting at it. In a day or two, ’owever, ’e see it as plain as me and
Jimmy did, and, as time went by, he got desprit, and frightened us both
by ’anging about aft every chance ’e got.
The companion-way faced the wheel, and there was about as much chance
o’ getting down there without being seen as there would be o’ taking a
man’s false teeth out of ’is mouth without ’is knowing it. Jimmy went
down one day while Bill was at the wheel to look for ’is knife, wot ’e
thought ’e’d left down there, and ’ed ’ardly got down afore Bill saw
’im come up ag’in, ’olding on to the top of a mop which the steward was
using.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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