Its agin our way of doing business, ses Ted Reddish. If it ud been a lion or a tiger we could, but wild men we never do.
The thing is, ses Mrs. Reddish, as the wild man started on Russets leg and was pulled off by Sam and Ginger, where to put im.
Why not put im in with the black leopard? ses her usband.
Theres plenty o room in his cage, says is wife thoughtfully, and it ud be company for im too.
I dont think the wild man ud like that, ses Ginger.
Im sartain sure e wouldnt, says old Sam, shaking is ead.
Well, we must put im in a cage by hisself, I spose, ses Reddish, but we cant be put to much expense. Im sure the money we spent in cats meat for the last wild man we ad was awful.
Dont you spend too much money on cats meat for im, ses Sam, ed very likely leave it. Bringing im ome, we used to give im the same as we ad ourselves, and he got on all right.
Its a wonder you didnt kill im, ses Reddish, severely. Hell be fed very different ere, I can tell you. You wont know im at the end o three days.
Dont change im too sudden, ses Ginger, keeping is ead turned away from the wild man, wot wos trying to catch is eye. Cook is food at fust, cos es been used to it.
I know wot to give im, ses Reddish, offhandedly. I aint been in the line twenty-seven years for nothink. Bring im out to the back, an Ill put im in is new ome.
They all got up and, taking no notice of the wild mans whispers, follered Ted Reddish and is wife out to the back, where all the wild beasts in the world seemed to ave collected to roar out to each other what a beastly place it was.
Im going to put im in Appy Cottage for a time, says Reddish; lend a hand ere, William, he says, beckoning to one of is men.
Is that Appy Cottage? ses old Sam, sniffing, as they got up to a nasty, empty cage with a chain and staple in the wall.
Ted Reddish said it was.
Wot makes you call it that? ses Sam.
Reddish didnt seem to ear im, and it took all Gingers coaxing to get Beauty to go in.
Its ony for a day or two, he whispers.
But ow am I to escape when youve got the brass? ses the wild man.
Well look arter that, ses Ginger, who adnt got the least idea.
The wild man ad a little show for the last time, jist to impress Ted Reddish, an it was pretty to see the way William andled im. The look on the wild mans face showed as ow it was a revelashun to im. Then is three mates took a last look at im and went off.
For the fust day Sam felt uneasy about im, and used to tell us tales about is dead brother which made us think Beauty was lucky to take arter is mother; but it wore off, and the next night, in the Admiral Cochrane, e put is ead on Gingers shoulder, and wep for appiness as e spoke of is nevys home at Appy Cottage.
On the third day Sam was for going round in the morning for the money, but Ginger said it wasnt advisable to show any aste; so they left it to the evening, and Peter Russet wrote Sam a letter signed Barnum, offering im two undered for the wild man, in case Ted Reddish should want to beat em down. They all ad a drink before they went in, and was smiling with good temper to sich an extent that they ad to wait a minute to get their faces straight afore going in.
Come in, ses Reddish, and they follered im into the parler, where Mrs. Reddish was sitting in a armchair shaking er ead and looking at the carpet very sorrowful.
I was afraid youd come, she ses, in a low voice.
So was I, ses Reddish.
What for? ses old Sam. It didnt look much like money, and e felt cross.
Weve ad a loss, ses Mrs. Reddish. She touched erself, and then they see she was all in black, and that Ted Reddish was wearing a black tie and a bit o crape round is arm.
Sorry to ear it, mum, ses old Sam.
It was very sudden, too, ses Mrs. Reddish, wiping er eyes.
Thats better than laying long, ses Peter Russet, comforting like.
Ginger Dick gives a cough. Twenty-five pounds was wot ed come for; not to ear this sort o talk.
Weve been in the wild-beast line seven-an-twenty years, ses Mrs. Reddish, and its the fust time anythink of this sort as appened.
Ealthy family, I spose, ses Sam, staring.
Tell im, Ted, ses Mrs. Reddish, in a usky whisper.
No, you, ses Ted.
Its your place, ses Mrs. Reddish.
A woman can break it better, ses er usband.
Tell us wot? ses Ginger, very snappish.
Ted Reddish cleared is throat.
It wasnt our fault, he ses, slowly, while Mrs. Reddish began to cry agin; ginrally speak-in, animals is afraid o wild men, and night before last, as the wild man wot you left on approval didnt seem to like Appy Cottage, we took im out an put im in with the tiger.
Put him in with the WOT? ses the unfortnit mans uncle, jumping off is chair.
The tiger, ses Reddish. We eard something in the night, but we thought they was only aving a little bit of a tiff, like. In the morning I went down with a bit o cold meat for the wild man, and I thought at first hed escaped; but looking a little bit closer
Dont, Ted, ses is wife. I cant bear it.
Do you mean to tell me that the tiger as eat im? screams old Sam.
Most of im, ses Ted Reddish; but e couldnt ha been much of a wild man to let a tiger get the better of im. I must say I was surprised.
We both was, ses Mrs. Reddish, wiping er eyes.
You might ha eard a pin drop; old Sams eyes was large and staring, Peter Russet was sucking is teeth, an Ginger was wondering wot the law would say to itif it eard of it.
Its an unfortunit thing for all parties, ses Ted Reddish at last, getting up and standing on the earthrug.
Orrible, ses Sam, uskily. You ought to ha known better than to put im in with a tiger. Wot could you expect? Wy, it was a mad thing to do.
Crool thing, ses Peter Russet.
You dont know the bisness properly, ses Ginger, thats about wot it is. You should ha known better than that.
Well, its no good making a fuss about it, ses Reddish. It was only a wild man arter all, and hed ha died anyway, cos e wouldnt eat the raw meat we gave im, and is pan o water was scarcely touched. Hed ha starved himself anyhow. Im sorry, as I said before, but I must be off; Ive got an appointment down at the docks.
He moved towards the door; Ginger Dick gave Russet a nudge and whispered something and Russet passed it on to Sam.
What about the undered quid? ses pore Beautys uncle, catching old o Reddish as e passed im.
Eh? ses Reddish, surprisedOh, thats off.
Ho! says Sam. Ho! is it? We want a undered quid off of you; an wots more, we mean to ave it.
But the tigers ate im, says Mrs. Reddish, explaining.
But the tigers ate im, says Mrs. Reddish, explaining.
I know that, ses Sam, sharply. But e was our wild man, and we want to be paid for im. You should ha been more careful. Well give you five minutes; and if the money aint paid by that time well go straight off to the police-station.
Well, go, ses Ted Reddish.
Sam got up, very stern, and looked at Ginger.
Youll be ruined if we do, ses Ginger.
All right, ses Ted Reddish, comfortably.
Im not sure they cant ang you, ses Russet.
I aint sure either, says Reddish; and Id like to know ow the law stands, in case it appens agin.
Come on, Sam, ses Ginger; come straight to the police-station.
He got up, and moved towards the door. Ted Reddish didnt move a muscle, but Mrs. Reddish flopped on her knees and caught old Sam round the legs, and eld him sos e couldnt move.
Spare im, she ses, crying.
Lea go o my legs, mum, ses Sam.
Come on, Sam, ses Ginger; come to the police.
Old Sam made a desperit effort, and Mrs. Reddish called im a crool monster, and let go and id er face on er husbands shoulder as they all moved out of the parlour, larfing like a mad thing with hysterics.
They moved off slowly, not knowing wot to do, as, of course, they knew they darent go to the police about it. Ginger Dicks temper was awful; but Peter Russet said they mustnt give up all opehed write to Ted Reddish and tell im as a friend wot a danger e was in. Old Sam didnt say anything, the loss of his nevy and twenty-five pounds at the same time being almost more than is art could bear, and in a slow, melancholy fashion they walked back to old Sams lodgings.
Well, what the blazes is up now? ses Ginger Dick, as they turned the corner.
There was three or four undered people standing in front of the ouse, and womens eads out of all the winders screaming their ardest for the police, and as they got closer they eard a incessant knocking. It took em nearly five minutes to force their way through the crowd, and then they nearly went crazy as they saw the wild man with alf the winder-blind missing, but otherwise well and arty, standing on the step and giving rat-a-tat-tats at the door for all e was worth.
They never got to know the rights of it, Beauty getting so excited every time they asked im ow he got on that they ad to give it up. But they began to ave a sort of idea at last that Ted Reddish ad been aving a game with em, and that Mrs. Reddish was worse than wot e was.
A GARDEN PLOT
The able-bodied men of the village were at work, the children were at school singing the multiplication-table lullaby, while the wives and mothers at home nursed the baby with one hand and did the housework with the other. At the end of the village an old man past work sat at a rough deal table under the creaking signboard of the Cauliflower, gratefully drinking from a mug of ale supplied by a chance traveller who sat opposite him.
The shade of the elms was pleasant and the ale good. The traveller filled his pipe and, glancing at the dusty hedges and the white road baking in the sun, called for the mugs to be refilled, and pushed his pouch towards his companion. After which he paid a compliment to the appearance of the village.
It aint what it was when I was a boy, quavered the old man, filling his pipe with trembling fingers. I mind when the grindstone was stuck just outside the winder o the forge instead o being one side as it now is; and as for the shop winderits twice the size it was when I was a young un.
He lit his pipe with the scientific accuracy of a smoker of sixty years standing, and shook his head solemnly as he regarded his altered birthplace. Then his colour heightened and his dim eye flashed.
Its the people about ere as changed more than the place as, he said, with sudden fierceness; theres a set o men about here nowadays as are no good to anybody; reglar raskels. And if youve the mind to listen I can tell you of one or two as couldnt be beat in London itself.
Theres Tom Adams for one. He went and started wot e called a Benevolent Club. Threepence a week each we paid agin sickness or accident, and Tom was secretary. Three weeks arter the club was started he caught a chill and was laid up for a month. He got back to work a week, and then e sprained something in is leg; and arter that was well is inside went wrong. We didnt think much of it at first, not understanding figures; but at the end o six months the club hadnt got a farthing, and they was in Toms debt one pound seventeen-and-six.
He isnt the only one o that sort in the place, either. There was Herbert Richardson. He went to town, and came back with the idea of a Goose Club for Christmas. We paid twopence a week into that for pretty near ten months, and then Herbert went back to town agin, and all we ear of im, through his sister, is that hes still there and doing well, and dont know when hell be back.
But the artfullest and worst man in this placeand thats saying a good deal, mind youis Bob Pretty. Deep is no word for im. Theres no way of being up to im. Its through im that we lost our Flower Show; and, if youd like to ear the rights o that, I dont suppose theres anybody in this place as knows as much about it as I dobarring Bob hisself that is, but e wouldnt tell it to you as plain as I can.
Wed only ad the Flower Show one year, and little anybody thought that the next one was to be the last. The first year you might smell the place a mile off in the summer, and on the day of the show people came from a long way round, and brought money to spend at the Cauliflower and other places.
It was started just after we got our new parson, and Mrs. Pawlett, the parsons wife, is name being Pawlett, thought as shed encourage men to love their omes and be better usbands by giving a prize every year for the best cottage garden. Three pounds was the prize, and a metal tea-pot with writing on it.
As I said, we only ad it two years. The fust year the garden as got it was a picter, and Bill Chambers, im as won the prize, used to say as e was out o pocket by it, taking is time and the money e spent on flowers. Not as we believed that, you understand, specially as Bill did is very best to get it the next year, too. E didnt get it, and though praps most of us was glad e didnt, we was all very surprised at the way it turned out in the end.
The Flower Show was to be eld on the 5th o July, just as amost everything about here was at its best. On the 15th of June Bill Chamberss garden seemed to be leading, but Peter Smith and Joe Gubbins and Sam Jones and Henery Walker was almost as good, and it was understood that more than one of em had got a surprise which theyd produce at the last moment, too late for the others to copy. We used to sit up here of an evening at this Cauliflower public-house and put money on it. I put mine on Henery Walker, and the time I spent in is garden elping im is a sin and a shame to think of.
Of course some of em used to make fun of it, and Bob Pretty was the worst of em all. He was always a lazy, good-for-nothing man, and is garden was a disgrace. Hed chuck down any rubbish in it: old bones, old tins, bits of an old bucket, anything to make it untidy. He used to larf at em awful about their gardens and about being took up by the parsons wife. Nobody ever see im do any work, real ard work, but the smell from is place at dinner-time was always nice, and I believe that he knew more about game than the parson hisself did.