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Article A QUEER CAREER. ← Page 12 of 13 →
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A Queer Career.
Brighton , on the occasion of the then usual Easter Monday Eeview , wheu I beheld my hero and a companion at the commeucement of the steep ascent to the downs , almost impeding the way by spreading a black banner across the road , a pole supported "by each . On the flag was inscribed—but no , I shall not say what was written there . There are subjects too sacred—too awful to bring in for the purposes of an idle sketch , though apparently rien sacre pour un sapeur must sometimes , perforce , be the motto of the
hungry vagabond . Suffice it to say that a bright little boy , obviously not unconnected with the banner-bearers , was mixing with the troops and the camp-followers , bearing a money-box , whereon was inscribed ,. " Collection in aid of the Mission to the London Laundresses . " A year or two ago I saw him on Finsbury pavement . A sale of wines was on , and outside the door of the sale-room was a large poster containing a list of the characters ,
quantities , and vintages . Mr . Mole , in a shocking state of dilapidation , but roofed with the traditional cylinder , knowingly cocked , his head slightly on side , one knee a little flexed , one hand on his hip , a complacent smile curling on his still handsome , though now rather too full lips , was cheerfidly examining the affwlw , and doing as much as in him lay to convey the impression to passers by that he contemplated replenishing his extensive cellar , and was a gentleman particular as to the cms . Poor wretch , perhaps some reminiscence of far-away long-gone-by " wines " in the monastic cells of Maudlin , or Trinity , inspired the curves around , and gave the composed and contented expression to a mouth long since more familiar with " unsweetened" than with Chateau'Lafitte .
I hope you have perceived , gentle reader , that I have not assumed to write a history so much as to contribute materials for a memoir . You can fill in the details according to your own knowledge of life . The brilliant genius , rusticated at his university—sent clown , we'll say—to put it indulgently—the " ornament" of the Inns of Court politely requested to remove his name from the books of the Lower Temple or Lionel's Inn ; the seedy spendthrift taking his shilling in Johu
Company ' s service—his conspicuous abilities adorning his sleeve with the noncommissioned officer ' s chevrons—his irrepressible propensities unstitching them ; the deserter escaping handcuffs and a corporal ' s picket carrying loaded pieces , by reenlisting in Her Majesty's service ; the Queen ' s " hard bargain , " as a light dragoon , considerately dismissed , and with the " key of the street" once more . The gambling booth " bonnet" the street hawker—facilis descensus averni . Ahme ! Alas ! and
, , alack-a-day ! Here , dear reader , you have no Cain , you know—no Ishmael—no fellow with his hand against every man , and every man ' s hand against him—for I don ' t believe Mr . Mole ever wilfully injured man , woman , or child . You have rather an urban Esau—a town hunter of very small game—a pavement gleaner of unnoticed grains after " men of the world " ( a convict in his broad-arrow marked suit , and with
gyves on his ancles , so described himself the other day in sober Westminster Hall ) have reaped their full sheaves . Men of his class are called in the language of the law " rogues and vagabonds , " but I don't believe that there was much of the former in friend Mole . He was rather , as is commonly said , "Nobody's enemy but his own . To the latter , I , as herein depicting , and thereby , to a certain extent , representing him s plead guilty ; but I don't think he could have strayed on the shady side of the law
very much during all these five-and-thirty years , or I should have missed him from London streets for longer intervals than I have noted . I saw him no longer ago than yesterday . He was taking a walk in the afternoon in the mild May sunshine , along the Thames Embankment , presumably to acquire an appetite for dinner . His chapeau was browner and glossier than ever . He was as jaunty as a man coidd be whose boots ap 23 arently had neither soles nor heels , and very little upper leather . You coidd see that his " poor feet in rather than encased in hobbledhebut
" were wrapped rags stockings . He ——what ' s this ? Sore feet ! "To bring in , God shield us ! a Hon among ladies is a most fearful tiling , " as Bottom the weaver remonstrates . I have proved myself , I hope , to be an eminently genteel writer , and sore feet must be , like the Queen of Spain's le » s , ignored ; but I reiterate that he hobbled . He shambled up Norfolk Street , and , as lie limped on , he pulled from his surtout pocket a penny slice of raw fat bacon . He ogled 35
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Queer Career.
Brighton , on the occasion of the then usual Easter Monday Eeview , wheu I beheld my hero and a companion at the commeucement of the steep ascent to the downs , almost impeding the way by spreading a black banner across the road , a pole supported "by each . On the flag was inscribed—but no , I shall not say what was written there . There are subjects too sacred—too awful to bring in for the purposes of an idle sketch , though apparently rien sacre pour un sapeur must sometimes , perforce , be the motto of the
hungry vagabond . Suffice it to say that a bright little boy , obviously not unconnected with the banner-bearers , was mixing with the troops and the camp-followers , bearing a money-box , whereon was inscribed ,. " Collection in aid of the Mission to the London Laundresses . " A year or two ago I saw him on Finsbury pavement . A sale of wines was on , and outside the door of the sale-room was a large poster containing a list of the characters ,
quantities , and vintages . Mr . Mole , in a shocking state of dilapidation , but roofed with the traditional cylinder , knowingly cocked , his head slightly on side , one knee a little flexed , one hand on his hip , a complacent smile curling on his still handsome , though now rather too full lips , was cheerfidly examining the affwlw , and doing as much as in him lay to convey the impression to passers by that he contemplated replenishing his extensive cellar , and was a gentleman particular as to the cms . Poor wretch , perhaps some reminiscence of far-away long-gone-by " wines " in the monastic cells of Maudlin , or Trinity , inspired the curves around , and gave the composed and contented expression to a mouth long since more familiar with " unsweetened" than with Chateau'Lafitte .
I hope you have perceived , gentle reader , that I have not assumed to write a history so much as to contribute materials for a memoir . You can fill in the details according to your own knowledge of life . The brilliant genius , rusticated at his university—sent clown , we'll say—to put it indulgently—the " ornament" of the Inns of Court politely requested to remove his name from the books of the Lower Temple or Lionel's Inn ; the seedy spendthrift taking his shilling in Johu
Company ' s service—his conspicuous abilities adorning his sleeve with the noncommissioned officer ' s chevrons—his irrepressible propensities unstitching them ; the deserter escaping handcuffs and a corporal ' s picket carrying loaded pieces , by reenlisting in Her Majesty's service ; the Queen ' s " hard bargain , " as a light dragoon , considerately dismissed , and with the " key of the street" once more . The gambling booth " bonnet" the street hawker—facilis descensus averni . Ahme ! Alas ! and
, , alack-a-day ! Here , dear reader , you have no Cain , you know—no Ishmael—no fellow with his hand against every man , and every man ' s hand against him—for I don ' t believe Mr . Mole ever wilfully injured man , woman , or child . You have rather an urban Esau—a town hunter of very small game—a pavement gleaner of unnoticed grains after " men of the world " ( a convict in his broad-arrow marked suit , and with
gyves on his ancles , so described himself the other day in sober Westminster Hall ) have reaped their full sheaves . Men of his class are called in the language of the law " rogues and vagabonds , " but I don't believe that there was much of the former in friend Mole . He was rather , as is commonly said , "Nobody's enemy but his own . To the latter , I , as herein depicting , and thereby , to a certain extent , representing him s plead guilty ; but I don't think he could have strayed on the shady side of the law
very much during all these five-and-thirty years , or I should have missed him from London streets for longer intervals than I have noted . I saw him no longer ago than yesterday . He was taking a walk in the afternoon in the mild May sunshine , along the Thames Embankment , presumably to acquire an appetite for dinner . His chapeau was browner and glossier than ever . He was as jaunty as a man coidd be whose boots ap 23 arently had neither soles nor heels , and very little upper leather . You coidd see that his " poor feet in rather than encased in hobbledhebut
" were wrapped rags stockings . He ——what ' s this ? Sore feet ! "To bring in , God shield us ! a Hon among ladies is a most fearful tiling , " as Bottom the weaver remonstrates . I have proved myself , I hope , to be an eminently genteel writer , and sore feet must be , like the Queen of Spain's le » s , ignored ; but I reiterate that he hobbled . He shambled up Norfolk Street , and , as lie limped on , he pulled from his surtout pocket a penny slice of raw fat bacon . He ogled 35