Seven Frozen Sailors Part 5

No; this was one of the most ordinary, common, and objectionable kind of coffee-shops, where the most frequent order was for "half a pint and slices;" where the half-pint was something thick and slab, which a.n.a.lytical research might have proved to be artfully compounded of parched peas and chicory, with a slight flavouring of burnt treacle; while the slices were good old, solemn, stale bread, with an oleaginous superficial surface, applied by a skilled hand, spreading over broader surfaces than scarcely would have seemed credible; so that regular customers, when they wanted to have their joke, would pick up a a slice, and turn it about, and hold it up to the light and put a penny in their right eye, making believe they had got an eye-gla.s.s there, and say, "Look here, guv'nor! which side is it? I'm only a arskin' fear it should fall on my Sunday go-to-meeting suit, and grease it."

Rashers of quite unbelievable rancidness, and "nice eggs," in boiling which poultry, in its early promise, was not unfrequently made an untimely end of, were the chief articles of consumption. The newspapers and periodicals--which, somehow, always appeared to be a week old--were marked by innumerable rings, where the customers had stood their coffee-cups upon them, and there were thousands of brisk and lively flies forever buzzing round about the customers' heads and settling on their noses; and thousands more of sleepy flies, stationary on the walls and ceiling, and thickly studding the show rasher in the window; and thousands and thousands more dead flies, lying about everywhere, and turning up as little surprises in the milk jug and the coffee-grounds, on the b.u.t.ter, or under the bacon, when you turned it over.

Not in the eggs, by-the-bye. You were pretty safe from them there--the embryo chick was the worst thing that could happen to you.

Not altogether a nice kind of place to pa.s.s one's evenings in, you are thinking. Well, no; but it was uncommonly quiet and snug, and uncommonly cheap, which was rather a point with me. I was, in truth, so hard up that night that I had stood outside the window a good twenty minutes, balancing my last coin--a fourpenny-bit--in my hand, and tossing up, mentally, to decide whether I should spend it in a bed or a supper. I decided on the latter, and entered the coffee-house, where I hoped, after I had eaten, to be able to sleep away an hour or two in peace, if I could get a snug corner to myself.

Several other people, however, seemed to have gone there with something of the same idea, and snored up and down, with their heads comfortably pillowed among the dirty plates and tea-things, while others carried on low, muttered conversations, and one woman was telling an interminable tale, breaking off now and then to whimper.

There was one empty box, in a darkish corner, and I made for that, and ordered my meal--thanking my stars that I had been so lucky as to find such a good place. But I was not left long in undisputed possession of it.

While I was disposing of the very first mouthful the shop-door opened, and a blue-cheeked, anxious-looking man peeped in, as though he were frightened--or, perhaps, ashamed--and glanced eagerly round. Then, as it seemed, finding nothing of a very alarming character, he came a step further in, and stopped again, to have another look, and his eyes fell upon me, and he stared very hard indeed, and came straight to my box, and sat down opposite to me.

I can't say this made me feel particularly comfortable, for, you see, for some days past I had spent the greater part of my time slipping stealthily round corners, and dodging up and down the sneakiest courts and alleys I could come across, with an idea that every lamp-post was a policeman in disguise that had got his eye on me.

I can't say I felt much more comfortable at this stranger's behaviour, when he had taken his seat and ordered a cup of coffee and a round of toast, in a low, confidential tone of voice, just, as it struck me, as a detective might have done who had the coffee-shop keeper in his pay.

Then he pulled a very mysterious little brown paper-covered book from his pocket, consisting of some twenty pieces of ma.n.u.script, and he attentively read in it, and then fixed his eyes upon the ceiling and mumbled.

Said I to myself, "Perhaps this is some poor parson chap, learning up his sermon for next Sunday."

But then this was only Monday night; it could hardly be that.

Presently, too, I noticed that he was secretly taking stock of me round the side of the book. What, after all, if the written sheets of paper contained a minute description of myself and the other runaways who were "wanted?"

He now certainly seemed to be making a comparison between me and something he was reading--summing me up, as it were--and I felt precious uncomfortable, I can tell you.

All at once he spoke.

"It's a chilly evening, sir."

"Yes," I said.

"A sailor, I think?"

There was no good denying that. A sailor looks like a sailor, and nothing else.

"Yes," I said, slowly.

"A fine profession, sir!" said he; "a n.o.ble profession. s.h.i.+ver my timbers!"

Now, you know, we don't s.h.i.+ver our timbers in reality; and if we did, we shouldn't s.h.i.+ver them in the tone of voice the blue-cheeked man s.h.i.+vered his, and I couldn't resist a broad grin, though I still felt uncomfortable.

"I've no objection, I'm sure," said I, "if _you_ have none."

He was silent for a while, and seemed to be thinking it over, then went on reading and mumbling. Evidently he was a detective. I had met one before once, dressed as a countryman, and talking Brummagem Yorks.h.i.+re.

A detective wanting to get into conversation with a sailor was just likely, I fancied, to start with an out-of-the-way thing like "s.h.i.+ver my timbers." I made my mind up I wouldn't be pumped very dry.

"Been about the world a good deal, sir, I suppose?" he said, returning to the charge after a brief pause. "Been wrecked, I dare say--often?"

"Pretty often--often enough."

"Have you, now?" he said, laying down his book, and leaning back, to have a good look at me as he drew a long breath. "A-h!"

I went on with my meal, putting the best face I could on it, and pretending not to notice him; but it was not very easy to do this naturally, and at last I dropped my bread and b.u.t.ter, and fixed him, in my turn.

"You ought to know me in time," said I.

"I should be proud to!" he answered, readily. "I should take it as a favour if you'd allow me to make your acquaintance--to become friendly with you!"

"Well," said I, still with the detective idea strong on me, "you see, I like to know whom it is I'm making friends with. What port do you hail from, pray?"

The strange man made a plunge at me, and shook my hand heartily, shaking also the slice of bread and b.u.t.ter I was holding in it.

"Did you take me for a seafaring man?" he asked, in a joyful voice.

"You really don't mean that? That's capital!"

"Well," said I, "aren't you?"

"No," he answered, in great excitement; "of course not. I'm going to be very shortly, if I've any luck, but I've not taken to the line yet. See here, sir, that's who I am."

And, so saying, he produced a large ill.u.s.trated play-bill from his pocket, such as you may find stuck about the walls at the East-end, or on the Surrey side, and on which I read, "The Death Struggle. Enormous success!" in large letters.

"Oh!" I said; "that's you, is it?"

I thought he was, probably, rather cracked.

But he tapped his finger-end emphatically upon one particular spot, and indicated half a line of very small type, and stooping my head so as to bring my eyes down close to it I made out, "Count Randolph, a gambler and a roue, Mr Jones."

When I had read it, he appeared to look at me, expecting that I should say something appropriate, or, at any rate, look awe-stricken. But it was very funny to look at this long-faced, hungry-looking fellow, pitching into his b.u.t.tered toast, and a.s.sociate him with the wickedness set down to his account, so "Bless me!" was as much as I could possibly manage.

"Yes, it is," said he; "but that's nothing. It's a dirty shame of them to put a fellow in that type, and leave his initial out, too! But that's all jealousy, you know. That's Barkins, that is! It's Barkins's house, and Barkins's bill, and, hang it! it's all Barkins's!"

On referring a second time to the picture-bill, there, sure enough, I found the name of Barkins flouris.h.i.+ng in all sorts of type and in all manner of places.

"Ah!" cried Mr Jones, finis.h.i.+ng his coffee with one gulp, "it won't always be so, that's one comfort! I've a chance here, sir,--one of a thousand; and you'll see then whether I'm equal to it or not!"

"I'm sure you will be," I replied, not exactly knowing what else to say.

"You find your business rather hard work sometimes, don't you? and the pay sometimes a little doubtful?" I added, after a pause.

"I wish it was _only_ a little," Mr Jones replied, with a woeful grin; "but I get along, somehow--I keep alive, somehow; and it won't always be so--not when I get my chance, you know!"

I really thought I ought to say something now, so I asked when he expected the chance, and what it was.

"Ah, that's it!" said he. "Do you know you could be a good deal of service to me, if you'd the time?"

"I've more time than money, worse luck!" I said. "I should be glad to earn a trifle anyhow, and should be much obliged if you could point out the how; but as to being of service to you, I'd gladly be that for nothing."

You see, I had taken a good look at Mr Jones's ragged edges and glazed elbows by this time, and had come to the conclusion that, even gambler and roue as he was, he must have had about as much as he could do to look after himself.