Speculators purchase numbered tickets freely; balls
are shaken up in the tin box--and the popsy-wopsy invariably gets
distinctly the best of it._
[Illustration: "I'm ole Billy Fairplay, _I_ am!"]
_Fourth S.C._ (_an extremely disreputable-looking old gentleman, with a
cunningly curled piece of tape on a board_), 'Ere, I'm ole BILLY FAIRPLAY,
_I_ am! Come an' try yer fortins at little 'Ide an' Find! Arf a crown yer
don't prick the middle o' this bit o' tape. Bet arf a crown, to win five
shillin's! (_A school-boy sees his way to doubling his last tip, and
speculates._) Wrong agin, my boy! It's old BILLY FAIRPLAY'S luck--for
_once_ in a way! [_The School-boy departs, saddened by this
most unexpected result._
_Fifth S.C._ (_a fat, fair man, with an impudent frog-face, who is trying
desperately hard to take in a sceptical crowd with the too familiar
purse-trick_). Now look 'ere, I don't mind tellin' yer all, fair _an_'
frank, I'm 'ere to get a bit, if I _can_; but, if you kin ketch me on my
_merits_, why, _I_ shan't grumble--I'll promise yer that much! Well,
now--(_to a stolid and respectable young Clerk_)--jest to show you don't
know _me_, and I don't know _you_--(_he throws three half-crowns into the
purse_).
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25