Before Mr. Dawkins"s arrival in our house, Mr. Deuceace had barely condysended to speak to Mr. Blewitt: it was only about a month after that suck.u.mstance that my master, all of a sudding, grew very friendly with him. The reason was pretty clear,--Deuceace wanted him. Dawkins had not been an hour in master"s compny before he knew that he had a pidgin to pluck.
Blewitt knew this too; and bein very fond of pidgin, intended to keep this one entirely to himself. It was amusin to see the Honrabble Halgernon manuvring to get this pore bird out of Blewitt"s clause, who thought he had it safe. In fact, he"d brought Dawkins to these chambers for that very porpos, thinking to have him under his eye, and strip him at leisure.
My master very soon found out what was Mr. Blewitt"s game. Gamblers know gamblers, if not by instink, at least by reputation; and though Mr. Blewitt moved in a much lower spear than Mr. Deuceace, they knew each other"s dealins and caracters puffickly well.
"Charles, you scoundrel," says Deuceace to me one day (he always spoak in that kind way), "who is this person that has taken the opsit chambers, and plays the flute so industrusly?"
"It"s Mr. Dawkins, a rich young gentleman from Oxford, and a great friend of Mr. Blewittses, sir," says I; "they seem to live in each other"s rooms."
Master said nothink, but he grin"d--my eye, how he did grin! Not the fowl find himself could snear more satannickly.
I knew what he meant:
Imprimish. A man who plays the floot is a simpleton.
Secknly. Mr. Blewitt is a raskle.
Thirdmo. When a raskle and a simpleton is always together, and when the simpleton is rich, one knows pretty well what will come of it.
I was but a lad in them days, but I knew what was what as well as my master; it"s not gentlemen only that"s up to snough. Law bless us!
there was four of us on this stairkes, four as nice young men as you ever see; Mr. Bruffy"s young man, Mr. Dawkinses, Mr. Blewitt"s, and me--and we knew what our masters was about as well as they did theirselfs. Frinstance, I can say this for myself, there wasn"t a paper in Deuceace"s desk or drawer, not a bill, a note, or mimerandum, which I hadn"t read as well as he: with Blewitt"s it was the same--me and his young man used to read "em all. There wasn"t a bottle of wine that we didn"t get a glas, nor a pound of sugar that we didn"t have some lumps of it. We had keys to all the cubbards--we pipped into all the letters that kem and went--we pored over all the bill-files--we"d the best pickens out of the dinners, the liwers of the fowls, the force-mit b.a.l.l.s out of the soup, the egs from the sallit. As for the coals and candles, we left them to the landrisses. You may call this robry--nonsince--it"s only our right--a suvvant"s purquizzits is as sacred as the laws of Hengland.
Well, the long and short of it is this. Richard Blewitt, esquire, was sityouated as follows: He"d an ink.u.m of three hunderd a year from his father. Out of this he had to pay one hunderd and ninety for money borrowed by him at collidge, seventy for chambers, seventy more for his hoss, aty for his suvvant on bord wagis, and about three hunderd and fifty for a supprat establishmint in the Regency Park; besides this, his pockit money, say a hunderd, his eatin, drinkin, and wine-marchant"s bill, about two hunderd moar. So that you see he laid by a pretty handsome sum at the end of the year.
My master was diffrent: and being a more fashnabble man than Mr. B., in course he owed a deal more money. There was fust:--
Account contray, at Crockford"s . . . . . . . 3711 0 0 Bills of xchange and I.O.U."s (but he didn"t pay these in most cases) . . . . . . . . . . 4963 0 0 21 tailor"s bills, in all . . . . . . . . . . 1306 11 9 3 hossdealer"s do. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402 0 0 2 coachbuilder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506 0 0 Bills contracted at Cambritch . . . . . . . . 2193 6 8 Sundries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 987 10 0 ------------ 14,069 8 5
I give this as a curiosity--pipple doant know how in many cases fashnabhle life is carried on; and to know even what a real gnlmn owes is somethink instructif and agreeable.
But to my tail. The very day after my master had made the inquiries concerning Mr. Dawkins, witch I have mentioned already, he met Mr.
Blewitt on the stairs; and byoutiffle it was to see how this gnlman, who had before been almost cut by my master, was now received by him.
One of the sweatest smiles I ever saw was now vizzable on Mr.
Deuceace"s countenance. He held out his hand, covered with a white kid glove, and said, in the most frenly tone of vice posbill, "What? Mr.
Blewitt! It is an age since we met. What a shame that such near naybors should see each other so seldom!"
Mr. Blewitt, who was standing at his door, in a pe-green dressing-gown, smoakin a segar, and singing a hunting coarus, looked surprised, flattered, and then suspicius.
"Why, yes," says he, "it is, Mr. Deuceace, a long time."
"Not, I think, since we dined at Sir George Hockey"s. By the by, what an evening that was--hay, Mr. Blewitt? What wine! what capital songs!
I recollect your "May-day in the morning"--cuss me, the best comick song I ever heard. I was speaking to the Duke of Doncaster about it only yesterday. You know the duke, I think?"
Mr. Blewitt said, quite surly, "No, I don"t."
"Not know him!" cries master; "why, hang it, Blewitt! he knows you; as every sporting man in England does, I should think. Why, man, your good things are in everybody"s mouth at Newmarket."
And so master went on chaffin Mr. Blewitt. That genlmn at fust answered him quite short and angry; but, after a little more flumery, he grew as pleased as posbill, took in all Deuceace"s flatry, and bleeved all his lies. At last the door shut, and they both went into Mr. Blewitt"s chambers togither.
Of course I can"t say what past there; but in an hour master kem up to his own room as yaller as mustard, and smellin sadly of backo smoke. I never see any genlmn more than he was; he"d been smoakin seagars along with Blewitt. I said nothink, in course, tho" I"d often heard him xpress his horrow of backo, and knew very well he would as soon swallow pizon as smoke. But he wasn"t a chap to do a thing without a reason: if he"d been smoakin, I warrant he had smoked to some porpus.
I didn"t hear the convysation between "em; but Mr. Blewitt"s man did: it was,--"Well, Mr. Blewitt, what capital seagars! Have you one for a friend to smoak?" (The old fox, it wasn"t only the seagars he was a smoakin!) "Walk in," says Mr. Blewitt; and then they began a chaffin together; master very ankshous about the young gintleman who had come to live in our chambers, Mr. Dawkins, and always coming back to that subject,--sayin that people on the same stairkis ot to be frenly; how glad he"d be, for his part, to know Mr. d.i.c.k Blewitt, and any friend of his, and so on. Mr. d.i.c.k, howsever, seamed quite aware of the trap laid for him. "I really don"t know this Dawkins," says he: "he"s a chismonger"s son, I hear; and tho I"ve exchanged visits with him, I doant intend to continyou the acquaintance,--not wishin to a.s.soshate with that kind of pipple." So they went on, master fishin, and Mr.
Blewitt not wishin to take the hook at no price.
"Confound the vulgar thief!" muttard my master, as he was laying on his sophy, after being so very ill; "I"ve poisoned myself with his infernal tobacco, and he has foiled me. The cursed swindling boor! he thinks he"ll ruin this poor cheesemonger, does he? I"ll step in, and warn him."
I thought I should bust a laffin, when he talked in this style. I knew very well what his "warning" meant,--lockin the stable-door, but stealin the boss fust.
Next day, his strattygam for becoming acquainted with Mr. Dawkins he exicuted, and very pritty it was.
Besides potry and the floot, Mr. Dawkins, I must tell you, had some other parsballities--wiz., he was very fond of good eatin and drinkin.
After doddling over his music and boox all day, this young genlmn used to sally out of evenings, dine sumptiously at a tavern, drinkin all sots of wine along with his friend Mr. Blewitt. He was a quiet young fellow enough at fust; but it was Mr. B. who (for his own porpuses, no doubt) had got him into this kind of life. Well, I needn"t say that he who eats a fine dinner, and drinks too much overnight, wants a bottle of soda-water, and a gril, praps, in the mornink. Such was Mr.
Dawkinses case; and reglar almost as twelve o"clock came, the waiter from Dix Coffy-House was to be seen on our stairkis, bringin up Mr.
D."s hot breakfast.
No man would have thought there was anythink in such a trifling circk.u.mstance; master did, though, and pounced upon it like a c.o.c.k on a barlycorn.
He sent me out to Mr. Morell"s, in Pickledilly, for wot"s called a Strasbug-pie--in French, a "patty defaw graw." He takes a card, and nails it on the outside case (patty defaw graws come generally in a round wooden box, like a drumb); and what do you think he writes on it?
why, as follos:--"For the Honourable Algernon Percy Deuceace, etc. etc.
etc. With Prince Talleyrand"s compliments."
Prince Tallyram"s complimints, indeed! I laff when I think of it still, the old surpint! He was a surpint, that Deuceace, and no mistake.
Well, by a most extrornary piece of ill-luck, the next day punctially as Mr. Dawkinses brexfas was coming up the stairs, Mr. Halgernon Percy Deuceace was going down. He was as gay as a lark, humming an Oppra tune, and twizzting round his head his hevy gold-headed cane. Down he went very fast, and by a most unlucky axdent struck his cane against the waiter"s tray, and away went Mr. Dawkinses gril, kayann, kitchup, soda-water, and all! I can"t think how my master should have choas such an exact time; to be sure, his windo looked upon the cort, and he could see every one who came into our door.
As soon as the axdent had took place, master was in such a rage as, to be sure, no man ever was in befor; he swoar at the waiter in the most dreddfle way; he threatened him with his stick, and it was only when he see that the waiter was rayther a bigger man than his self that he was in the least pazzyfied. He returned to his own chambres; and John the waiter, went off for more grill to Dixes Coffey-House.
"This is a most unlucky axdent, to be sure, Charles," says master to me, after a few minnits paws, during which he had been and wrote a note, put it into an anvelope, and sealed it with his bigg seal of arms. "But stay--a thought strikes me--take this note to Mr. Dawkins, and that pye you brought yesterday; and hearkye, you scoundrel, if you say where you got it I will break every bone in your skin!"
These kind of prommises were among the few which I knew him to keep; and as I loved boath my skinn and my boans, I carried the noat, and, of core, said nothink. Waiting in Mr. Dawkinses chambus for a few minnits, I returned to my master with an anser. I may as well give both of these doc.u.mence, of which I happen to have taken coppies.
I
The Hon. A. P. Deuceace to T. S. Dawkins, Esq.
"Temple, Tuesday.
"Mr. Deuceace presents his compliments to Mr. Dawkins, and begs at the same time to offer his most sincere apologies and regrets for the accident which has just taken place.
"May Mr. Deuceace be allowed to take a neighbour"s privilege, and to remedy the evil he has occasioned to the best of his power? If Mr.
Dawkins will do him the favour to partake of the contents of the accompanying case (from Strasburg direct, and the gift of a friend, on whose taste as a gourmand Mr. Dawkins may rely), perhaps he will find that it is not a bad subst.i.tute for the plat which Mr. Deuceace"s awkwardness destroyed.
"It will, also, Mr. Deuceace is sure, be no small gratification to the original donor of the pate, when he learns that it has fallen into the hands of so celebrated a bon vivant as Mr. Dawkins.
"T. S. Dawkins, Esq., etc. etc. etc."