Twenty Years of Hus'lingJohnston, J. P. (James Perry)
General
Twenty Years of Hus'ling
Johnston, J. P. (James Perry)
Business; Johnston, J. P. (James Perry), 1852-
I then took the pants down to the office, and let the Doctor into the
secret.
The next Saturday the Irishman came rushing down stairs in great
excitement, and reported the loss of his pants. I said:
"Well, Irish, if you don't find them, I'll go with you to pick out
another pair."
"But, be the Howly Moses! will yez pay for thim?"
I told him I'd see that he paid for them. He threatened to leave, but
the Doctor helped to quiet him down.
I then found Dutchy and told him to try and call at the Irishman's room
the next day when he was in, and manage in some way to raise his dress,
so that the Irishman would get a glimpse of his pants. He assured me he
would fix that all right.
On Sunday morning, about ten o'clock, Irish came rushing down stairs on
the jump, rushed up to me, and said:
"Be the Howly St. Crispin and Moses in the bulrushes! May the divil fly
away wid me if I haven't found moy pants!"
"Good! Good! Where were they?"
"Howly Moses! come wid me to wan side. I'll tell yez on the quiet."
"Never mind about the quiet, Irish. Sing out; tell everybody."
"Oh, be jabers! ye'd laste expect to find thim where I seed thim."
"Well, tell us."
"Yes, tell us," said the Doctor.
"Well," he hesitatingly said, "be the howly shmoke, the ould chambermaid
has thim on, as sure as I'm a loive Irishman!"
"Oh, nonsense!" I replied. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, to come
down here in the presence of these men and try to injure the character
of that poor chambermaid."
"By the great horned spoon! but she has the pants on, and Oi'll have
thim, charackther or no charackther, Misther Landlord!"
"Well, now, see here, Irish, I'll bet the cigars for the crowd, that she
hasn't got your pants on."
"All right, sir, all right, sir; I'll take that bet."
While we were shaking hands on the bet, the Doctor took a bundle from
under the counter containing the pants and ran up to the Irishman's
room, and hung them up.
We then went up-stairs, accompanied by several bystanders, and after
reaching the Irishman's room, I called to the chambermaid to come in.
Irish stood waiting for me to introduce the subject to the maid, and I
waited for him. I then turned to him and said:
"Well, Irish, prove your case."
"Well, be jabers! d'ye s'pose I am going to insult this lady? Not by a
dang sight, pants or no pants."
I turned to Dutchy and said:
"Have you got Irish's pants on?"
"Nix; I youst got my own pants."
"Well, come around here, Dutchy, and show Irish your pants."
Obeying my order, the dress was raised, exposing the pants to view.
Irish straightened himself up, and in a very triumphant manner, said:
"Well, there, Misther Landlord, I giss yez are quite well satisfied.
I'll take the cigars, and the pay for thim pants, if yez plaise."
I turned round and said:
"Whose pants are these hanging here, Irish? Did you have two pair
alike?"
He looked at them and said:
"Be gobs! she took thim off while me back was turned."
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