"A wrong un, I expect," was the reflection of Constable H23, who always
expected a wrong un at that hour of the morning. Upon the spur of this
thought, the bobby suddenly turned on his heel, and saw the wrong un,
bundle, fur cap and all, crossing the road like an early morning fox at
the lure of a favorite hencoop. Moreover, he was crossing it for the
reason that he was frantically hungry.
Across the road, at a junction it formed with three others as mean and
dismal as itself, was a sight supremely blessed in the eyes of the
Sailor. It was nothing less than a coffee stall in the panoply of
matutinal splendor. Steaming fluids, with flames glowing under them,
flanked one half of its counter; rock cakes, ham sandwiches, beef
sandwiches, rolls and butter, and pork pies, splendidly honest and
genuine pork pies, flanked the other half of it.
The proprietor of the stall, an optimist in white apron and shirt
sleeves, being unmistakably of the male sex had no terrors for the
Sailor. Besides, he was flushed with the knowledge that he had just
said good morning to the police.
"Cup o' coffee, mister, and one o' them."
Nothing less than a pork pie could meet the need of the Sailor.
Moreover, he dived in his pocket, took the first coin that came, which
happened to be half a crown, and laid it with true Klondyke
magnificence on the counter.
The proprietor of the stall, who added a power of clear thinking to his
many qualities, appeared to see in the action as well as in the coin
itself, a declaration of financial status on the part of the young
seaman in the remarkable gear. Also this view was shared by the only
one of his early morning customers who happened to be at the stall: to
wit, an almost aggressively capable looking and slightly bow-legged
young man with flaming red hair and ears set at right angles to his
head, who was devouring a pork pie with quiet ferocity.
A single glance passed between Ike, who owned the stall, and the most
influential of his patrons, who answered to the name of Ginger; a
single glance and that was all.
"Nothing smaller, sonny?" said Ike, smiling and pleasant. "Not used to
big money at seven g.m. Penny the corfee and two pence the pie. Three
d." The proprietor raised three fingers and beamed like a seraph.
Ginger suspended operations on the pork pie to see what Dr. Nansen
would do next.
The Sailor, with memories of Grandma still in his mind, put back the
half-crown carefully before he brought out anything else. He was not
going to give himself away this time. Thus he went warily in search of
the smallest coin he could disentangle from the welter of all shapes
and sizes, of all values and countries, which had been disposed in
every pocket of his person. At last he produced one and laid it on the
oilcloth modestly, as though he merely valued it at threepence. But in
that part of the world it was valued at half a sovereign.
"Rich aunt," said the proprietor of the stall, with respectful humor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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