The record-union., 1894-09-08

by some one 1 took TO be the coster's
princess" and these were succeeded
/ by the crashing together of opposing
/ forces, one OF which, from the voluble
dialect evoked, must have been attired in
corduroy and wealth OF pearl buttons,
Tor, moment later, Ikey Pushbarrow
runpled and painting, came sinking TO
my side.
Strike me lucky" gasped Ikey, seat
! ing himself discouragedly in an empty
! donkey cart to recover his breath "W,at
| d'Y ,spose wus th' OF cove's move?'i
| With apparent deepest concern I
pressed him for particulars.
Hl 'ad me donah in me harms. HID
! jest give 'er chaste buss. key says
she, hits hall hdp VII hus!' Strike me
lucky says Hi, If it ber 'Ee'll kill ee!'
! says me donah. Not this hevenin'p saws
hi. Wat an hever makes you so bold?''
says she. Me 'eavenly donahp says l.
/ w III ye be man, key, ii Hill run away
WI YEP says she. Iii hup an bussed 'er
agin. 'Hevery hinch, Gawd's truthv
says |. Then says she, Hive made a
'ole in th wall. Hits a builders storage
Iot below. Ikey, twenty-foot ladder'u
reach that 'ole an me--jest hour from
this yer minute. Hits o'er Seven Dials
way" 'Hangel o me life' says Hi. Jest
then th' cove 'ove in sight. 'Wagaboner
says ee, griffin is grinders like IN hani-
maIs III tn Zoo. Me domain piunked hout
]
/ gazln' arter 'er sunthln' dropped like
| ships hanchor. Strike me lucky, but
! didn't ye ear hit, Guvernor? Wat dye
! 'spose wus that oP cove's sly move?
Fed run down lis moke donkey at met
An, Gawd's truth, Governor, that yer
vicious hanimal kicked nearly hevery
| OIoonln' button Oft me togs. But, strike
me lucky, tin langwidge as come 'long o.
/ tn kIckln' from me domains Oh cove,
,asn't hits ekal from Shoredtch T. Bill
lngsgate! Come agin.' says ee, vile tn
! mammal hammered me agin th' wall
! wen yer bones is sot, Ikey! HILL tie
! knives am files . lis 'eels next time, We
! W'itechapel wagabonen''
/ Despite the ludIcrous appearance of the
costeT who now Ilmped lugubriously be-
/ SIDE me, my sympathies were fully
/ aroused. l called a hanson at Furniya's
Inn, and through the drivers knowledge
! OF the labyrlnthlne region, in less than an
! hours time we had discovered the stor-
age grounds on the other side OF the
Leather Lane boundary wall.
The caretaker was found and enlisted
| In our service. Alter much uroping
among the sheds and piles Of deals we
! trlumphantIy secured a ladder OF the re-
/ CURED length. But here an unpleasant
obstacle confronted US. Great numbers
OF heavy skids and timbers had been
piled against the wall, and there was no
! safe grounding 1or our ladder.
| We worked vallantly for another hour
and at last were able to steaithily hoist
the ladder in place, its top rounds resting
q few feet above the tiny black aperture we
/ could just distinguish, more than half
way from the ground to the dark WALL
! edge cutting against the faintly-lighted,
! SOmber sky.
keys bruises rendered it out of the
| question for him TO ascend the ladder,
and perforce became the chief actor in
Z Ia Of
Stately ''pallus' tower. The coster's ex-
element was intense, ana the novel situ-
alton had certain touch Of danger in il
which l remember spurred me ON amaz-
lngly, as Ikey held fast below, while
breathing hoarse coster plaudits and
terms OF endearmeut as l carefully tested
each round on my way upward,
When my head was alongside the aper-
ture l cautiously peered Within. [ could
see nothing but single strand of light
which pierced the blackness through the
curtaining from the dim lamps of Leather
Lane.
waited tor time and heard no sound.
With my closed penknite [ softly tapped
against the wall and listened. | thought
1 heard a slight rustic, but was perplexed
at securing no other manner of response
when | whispered impatiently down TO
key TO sound his coster call.
Cherry ripe, you 'as it, Governor!
| Ere she goes'
"Ta-ta-taL ta-ta! ta-ta-ta!'
1t seemed an unearthly blast in the
silences of the walled and deserted ward
| but had scarcely time TO reach the ton
of the ladder when a little head popped
through the wall opening.
1t was instantly Withdrawn, but in a
flash little foot, then another, then a
dainty pair OF legs, and, finally, their
substantial upper belongings swung
through the aperture, and the girl hung
there from her finger ends without OUT
cry or apparent fear.
reached around her, getting a firm
grip on her little body, and brought her
to my own. Her splendid pluck, silence
and faith stirred me deeply, and 1 kissed
her squarely upon her lips in impassioned
admiration.
Easy does it, Guvernorp' came hoarse-
ly and tremulously from Ikey below.
But before the coster's protest had
reached either her ears or mine the girl
savagely squirmed like cat in my arms
and, but for my best efforts, would have
fallen headlong to the earth below. while
she hiSsed:
mi dearie Dubblesky! for the dear
Lords sakel Hits th' bing's (deyiPs)
lips stead % Ike'si''
1t was the only gypsy's kiss I ever
knew, this one snatched in the dark from
Phrony Plunketts lips under the wiljesr
of false pretenses, ana l hope for never
another, for / was SO startled and over
whelmed by her vicious struggling that
swift consciousness of whose form held
OF the real part l had been taking, and
above all Of my loyalty to one lowlv
friend working such treachery and havoc
to another, that L know not hoW-for
key had desperately run up the ladder
TO AID IN our deScent-We all came to the
ground together.
But there was brief whirlwind OF iov
In which L presume l became enveloped;
quick and quiet replacing of the ladder
IL the shed; stealthy leaving OF the
weird locality; a hurried whirl of car
rlages to place of safety; and, in agood
time, penny wedding'' III the Shore
ditch quarter, where l gave the happy
bride away, and the ecstatic lkey muir
INJURED, Strike me lucky!-but hit's th'
FUNNIEST go o me life, God bli me, so
hit is!n
And this is how it came about" con-
cluded the Gypsy Traveller, THAT before
the Christmas bells had rung | became
further involved in the affairs OF my
humble friends, to the degree that, as the
CO. OF Pushbarrow, Plunkett d Co., [
saw with no little pride our fiaring sign
go up above the door of happy home
and prosperous coster gypsy shop, where
key and Phrony exist with their green's
and donkeys in unalloyed domestic bliss:
where old Zeke rattleS and clatters mer-
rlly among pots and kettles, donkey har-
ness and broken coSters' carts, which are
increasing in number with prophetic
clamor OF opulence, and whence, when
the nOmadlc huupar bpnOD1aS too pOyAr-