"V'y the coping-stone I'll not go for to deny, sir," said Mr. Shrig, stroking his smooth brow, "but t'other time it were my friend and pal the Corp 'ere,—Corporal Richard Roe, late Grenadiers. 'E's only got an 'ook for an 'and, but vith that 'ook 'e's oncommonly 'andy, and as a veapon it ain't by no means to be sneezed at. No, 'e ain't none the worse for that 'ook, though they thought so in the army, and it vere 'im as brought you off v'ile I vos a-chasing of the enemy vith 'is gun, yonder."
"Why, then I should like to thank Corporal Richard Roe," said Barnabas,—(here the Corporal tugged at his precise and carefully trimmed whisker again), "and to shake his hand as well." Here the giant blushed and extended a huge fist.
"Honored, sir," said he, clicking his heels together.
"And now," said Mr. Shrig, "ve're all a-going to drink—at my expense."
"No, at mine," said Barnabas.
"Sir," said Mr. Shrig, round and placid of eye, "ven I says a thing I means it. Consequent you are now a-going to sluice your ivory vith a glass of the Vun an' Only, at my expense,—you must and you shall."
"Yes," said Barnabas, feeling in his pockets. "I must, my purse is gone."
"Purse!" exclaimed Mr. Shrig, his innocent eyes rounder than ever, "gone, sir?"
"Stolen," nodded Barnabas.
"Think o' that now!" sighed Mr. Shrig, "but I ain't surprised, no, I ain't surprised, and—by Goles!"
"What now?"
"Your cravat-sparkler!—that's wanished too!" Barnabas felt his rumpled cravat, and nodded. "And your vatch, now—don't tell me as they 've took—"
"Yes, my watch also," sighed Barnabas.
"A great pity!" said Mr. Shrig, "though it ain't to be vondered at,—not a bit."
"I valued the watch greatly, because it was given me by a very good friend," said Barnabas, sighing again.
"Walleyed it, hey?" exclaimed Mr. Shrig, "walleyed it, sir?—v'y then, 'ere it be!" and from a capacious side-pocket he produced Natty Bell's great watch, seals and all.
"Why—!" exclaimed Barnabas, staring.
"Also your purse, sir,—not forgetting the sparkler." Mr. Shrig continued, producing each article in turn.
"But—how in the world—?" began Barnabas.
"I took 'em from you v'ile you vos a-lookin' at my castor. Lord love me, a babe could ha' done it,—let alone a old 'and, like me!"
"Do you mean—?" began Barnabas, and hesitated.
"In my young days, sir," explained Mr. Shrig with his placid smile, "I vere a champion buzman, ah! and a prime rook at queering the gulls, too, but I ewentually turned honest all along of a flash, morning-sneak covess as got 'erself conwerted."
"What do you mean by a morning-sneak covess?"
"I means a area-sneak, sir, as vorks werry early in the morning. A fine 'andsome gal she vere, and vith nothing of the flash mollisher about 'er, either, though born on the streets, as ye might say, same as me. Vell, she gets con-werted, and she's alvays napping 'er bib over me,—as you'd say, piping 'er eye, d'ye see? vanting me to turn honest and be con-werted too. 'Turn honest,' says she, 'and ve'll be married ter-morrow,' says she."
"So you turned honest and married her?" said Barnabas, as Mr. Shrig paused.
"No, sir, I turned honest and she married a coal-v'ipper, v'ich, though it did come a bit 'ard on me at first, vos all for the best in the end, for she deweloped a chaffer,—as you might say, a tongue, d' ye see, sir, and I'm vun as is fond of a quiet life, v'en I can get it. Howsomever, I turned honest, and come werry near starving for the first year, but I kept honest, and I ain't never repented it—so fur. So, as for the prigs, and scamps, and buzmen, and flash leary coves, I'm up to all their dodges, 'aving been one of them, d'ye see. And now," said Mr. Shrig, as the big Corporal having selected divers bottles from his precise array, took himself off to concoct a jorum of the One and Only—"now sir, what do you think o' my pal Corporal Dick?"
"A splendid fellow!" said Barnabas.
"'E is that, sir,—so 'e is,—a giant, eh sir?"
"A giant, yes, and handsome too!" said Barnabas.
"V'y you're a sizable cove yourself, sir," nodded Mr. Shrig, "but you ain't much alongside my pal the Corp, are you? I'm nat'rally proud of 'im, d'ye see, for 't were me as saved 'im."
"Saved him from what? How?"
"Me being only a smallish chap myself, I've allus 'ad a 'ankering arter sizable coves. But I never seen a finer figger of a man than Corporal Dick—height, six foot six and a quarter, chest, fifty-eight and a narf, and sir—'e were a-going to drownd it all in the River, all along o' losing his 'and and being drove out o' the army, v'ich vould ha' been a great vaste of good material, as ye might say, seeing as there's so much of 'im. It vas a dark night, the night I found 'im, vith vind and rain, and there vos me and 'im a-grappling on the edge of a vharf—leastvays I vere a-holding onto 'is leg, d'ye see—ah, and a mortal 'ard struggle it vere too, and in the end I didn't save 'im arter all."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean as it vere 'im as saved me, for v'ot vith the vind, and the rain, and the dark, ve lost our footing and over ve vent into the River together—down and down till I thought as ve should never come up again, but ve did, o' course, and then, jest as 'ard as 'e'd struggled to throw 'imself in, 'e fought to get me out, so it vere 'im as really saved me, d'ye see?"
"No," said Barnabas, "it was you who really saved him."
"V'y, I'm as glad as you think so, sir, only d'ye see, I can't svim, and it vos 'im as pulled me out. And it all come along of 'im losing 'is 'and—come nigh to breaking 'is 'eart to be discharged, it did."
"Poor fellow!" said Barnabas, "and how did he lose his hand?"
"V'y, I could tell you, or you could read of it in the Gazette—jest three or four lines o' printing—and they've spelt 'is name wrong at that, curse 'em! But Corporal Dick can tell you best. Let 'im. 'Ere 'e comes, vith a steaming brew o' the Vun and Only."
And indeed, at this moment the Corporal re-entered, bearing a jug that gave forth a most enticing and delicious aroma, and upon which Mr. Shrig cast amorous glances, what time he reached three glasses from the marshalled array on the shelves.
And now, sitting at the small table that stood in a snug corner beside the chimney, Mr. Shrig, having filled the three glasses with all due care, tendered one to Barnabas with the words:
