The Merry Past 



money. In due course, the fortunate, or unfortunate, 

 buyer would find that he had purchased a piece of 

 real " Buckinghamshire," at about double the price 

 such goods would have cost him at any shop. The 

 colour was easily produced by dipping the lace in 

 coffee-grounds and raw starch. 



England can scarcely be said to have been generous 

 to her tars. During the war with France, poor 

 crippled sailormen were frequently to be met on the 

 public roads, trying to eke out a modest livelihood by 

 selling little trifles. 



Jack's store usually consisted of coarse hardware, 

 some ink, garters, brimstone, broadsheets, and the 

 like. The literary department was enriched with the 

 " History of Jack the Giantkiller," " Tom Thumb," 

 " An Account of the last illness of Mr. Pitt," and the 

 dying speeches of some of the most celebrated heroes 

 of the Old Bailey. He had also a collection of love 

 songs for the amusement of the village girls, and to 

 complete his stock, usually laid in a few dozens of 

 prayers for pious customers. 



Hobbling away upon a wooden leg and a crutch, 

 many a gallant old sea-dog would tell how he had 

 been fighting for his King and country ten years, and 

 had crippled and destroyed as many '' French dogs " 

 as he could, and had he not in turn been crippled 

 himself, would still have been fighting away as usual. 



" I have fought devilish hard," said one of these 

 men, " but the lubbers have crippled me now, so that 

 I can fight no more, and I am trying to get an honest 

 penny by selling a few articles of hardware, and a 



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