The record-union., 1894-09-08

conveyed nlS sore need oil relnf0rcementS,
that could not refuse him. | knew.
too, that coster neighborhoods were in
many instances winter retreats of the
| gypsles, and saw that in keys COM
pany l might chance upon those whom
| sought.
| We struck north into Holborn, and as
| we tramped leisurely along L prodded
key little for his apparent cowardice,
so unlike the coster, who is usually the
most reckless cavalier in matters of love
In all the world.
/ "Iain't fur want o. putin up me
! tYers, as L wants company, Governor
Lor love ye, no." insisted Ikey with
great gravity. You knows Hi arn't so
! slow at that. But this yer domains req
| lar out an outer; princess OF th' royal
line, Cor bli me, so she is! AM 'er stern
| parIent as sort o. took drop on me lOwiy
! Ilnyage. Hi doan't blame i'm, We know:
far from 1t, Governor. Hi arn'G but a
youngish cove, but th' OF un 'angs me up
tur reg'la Oh hler'
"In other words, there is strong oppo-
Sltion at headquarters, Ikey?"
! Strong Is a puttin' it uncommon mild.
sir. Hits inwincibie, Cor bli me. so
! it is!''
But the girl loves you and you love
the girl, truly and well?"
Hour arts is tight together as Wrinkle
| in hits shell!n
| -AiNA Ii1C OlO I'LL lIIdGIn0S you are
stlll the reckless rake you were, Ikey,
before. you made up your mind to be
every inch a man!''
! Cherry ripe, you has it, Guvernorw
Ana you want me along to sort of
| tone up your character and stand sponsor
| Tor your prospects, you rogue?''
key blew off a great whistle ofsurprise
at this exact exposition of the situation.
and Immediately launched into a volu-
bic and unrepeatable coster explanation
| OF affairs. from whose "Gor bli mesi"
| Strike me luckysr' "Gawd's truthsp'
and other binding but altogether uncon-
sclous coSter oaths and maledictions, [
easily gathered that key Pushbarrow,
| opuIent coster of Shoreditch and Covent
Garden, W as very much in love with some
| sprlghtly wench quite equal to his des-
| ertS, III whose attainment the coSter would
meet with no little opposition if not down
right trouble and harm.
All OF TINS brought us along Holborn to
ancient and historic FurnivaPs Inn.
Its decrepid back hangs over the en-
trance to notorious Leather Lane Scarce
ly wide enough beneath the back win
dows OF the inn To permit the entrance
or donkey and cart, it gradually WIdens
toward Iheobold's Row, and to the east
and west is itself entered by almost num-
beriess shadowy closes and wynds.
No casual frequenter of Holborn would
|
denSest IN London in point OF population.
Among the countless Iowly humans ex-
! listing here, fully a thousand are cosler-
mongers, and, IN winter, half as many
are gypsies.
While the costerS pride themselves en-
their utterly reckless lives aud nightly
carousals, from their standpoint of ethics
their gypsy neighbors are not fairly
progressive. They are too quiet Tnev
attend closely to work and minimize the
i'll effects OF the awful poverty of Lon
don's lowly.
AS we entered the grewsome place and
passed the famous Leather Bottle tap, the
resort of all this Leeming rabbIe, casual
remark by key disclosed the social stand
ards of noisome Leather Lane and the
costers opinions OF its winter gypsy in
habitants.
''Gor bli me! 'Ow can hus costers ave
comfort hout o. hour neigh bors, less hus
can 'elp carry 'em 'oDle now IAN agin
from tn Leather Bottle? Strike me
lucky! If Hi doan't believe they'd raw
ther heat wittles than lick pewter.
Clicking pewter" it must be known, is
coster for guZZling -four ale.") Gawd's
truth, but We awsk one o. 'em fur
th' loan o. bob shilling fur a few pots
at th' Bottle, am their bloody heyes Stick
hout IKE bleedln' mussels, Cor bli me,
so they dop'
About half way from FurnivaPs Inn to
TheoboIPs Row, narrow, dingy court
wriggled an hundred feet or more to the
east 10 The right and left the ramshac-
kIe yet stout old house fronts seemed
pitching at each other threateniugIy.
From the noisome pavement, packed
with donkey carts and barrows and al
most impossible with raven-like hu-
mans, to the houseroofs, hundreds of the
old and young seemed hanging from
trembling balconies and totterug win
dow sllIS, and as we halted at the corner
l could not but reflect that the destiny
of woeful human life must be inconceiy-
ably terrible behind these outer hi6eous
walls.
THAT'S 'er pallus!-as hodd a bunkin'
place as hever ye clapped heyes on, Guv-
ernor," said Ikey, pointing to the wedge
like end OF the narrowing court.
L could see, some forty or fifty feet
from the ground, the top of stout dead
wall, placed there as if to shut out the
poverty OF the Leather Lane region from
some better-favored district or inclosure,
"Crlckey! Arn't they tidy. jest" he
murmured admiringly. AN not a
bloomin' penn worth % rentrr
AS my eyes became accustomed to the
dim light OF the court, the outlines of
curious structure gradually grew visible.
It's occupants seemed 10 exist under a
system OF more than partial suspension.
Some thirty feet from the ground a
mass OF patched bits of sail cloth and
blankets formed the only roof Ingeni-
ously braced bits of wood-hotsam and
Jetsam from the markets and the Thames
had been utilized in the construction of
three successive stories or floors betw cen
the Tapping roof and pavement eff the
court. All of these were open to the
weather and Leather Lane way save
where rags, sieve-Iike blankets and sail
cloth answered the place of scant cur
tanning.
These stories or floors, as Ikey enthu-
siastically explained and l. afterwards
hospitality found, were about eight feet
square, except the lower or pavement
story, which was as large as the prowess
of the occupants could make il against the
hordes OF the sitting court. An aperture
had been made in the dead wall, which,
with few bricks and a little mud NOR
tar, provided capital chimney piece.
The draught was perfect. There was a
good deal OF comfort, too. about this ex-
traordinary treside. The cart was
'whummeled," that is, turned bottom
side UP for a table. a sheli-like piece
of timber was fastened against the side
wall for lounging bunk and bench, and
ladder ran from this along the wall to
the second-story, where cooking utensils
and food were kept.
But more curious than all was the
nightly disposition of the donkey and the
human occupants themselves. On arri-
val from the days journeyings, the dom
key was hauled by rope and tackle into
the cage-IIke thlrd-Story, under the sail
cloth root. and, on retiring for the night,
keys princess" assembled to her lofty
boudoir beside the faithful beast, while
her Cerebus father, valiantly choosing the
post of danger i'll the second-story below,
fished as it were, all light belongings up
after him.
''Gor bli mep, nrondIY exclaimed Ikav