"
I laid down my palette and looked up. Paper-hanging evidently had its
lively side.
"Afoot?"
"All four of 'em, sor--lickety-split and hell's loose. I come near
runnin' over a bobbie as I turned into Pall Mall, but I dodged him and
kep' on and landed second, with the mare doubled up in a heap and the
rig a-top of her and one shaft broke. Lord Bentig and the other chaps
that was wid him was standin' waitin', and when we all fell in a heap he
nigh bu'st himself a-laughin'. He went bail for us, of course, and give
the three of us ten bob apiece, but I got laid off for three months, and
come up here, where me old mother lives and I kin pick up a job."
"Hanging paper?" I suggested with a smile.
"Yes, or anything else. Ye see, sor, I'm handy carpenterin', or puttin'
on locks, or the likes o' that, or paintin', or paper-hangin', or
mendin' stoves or tinware. So when they told me a painter chap wanted
me, I looked over me perfessions and picked out the wan I tho't would
suit him best.
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