156 WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN. 



ten o'clock, to get his half-pint of porter in those 

 wretched " crab-shells." Flip, flop, splash, he went, 

 hence his nickname of " Splashey." When he went 

 out shooting, however, he always put on waterproof 

 fishing-boots. 



"Yes, it wus jest about sich a day as this it 

 couldn't be a wusser, nohow thet old Splashey, 

 an' me, an' Josher Hulldown, an' Old Craft cum 

 down for sum geese. My boy Scoot brought the 

 noos up frum the boats. Well, they wus druv clean 

 up frum open water, blowed right off, smack ! On'y 

 the wust of it wus, they wus the Musson side o' 

 the Crick. Most o' the feed wus there, d'ye see. 

 Now and agin the wind 'ud clean wobble 'em up, 

 an' blow 'em up agin one anuther; an' you could 

 hear 'em jabber like mad ; an' then a lot of 'em 

 flapped over this 'ere side. 



" There waun't no love lost 'twixt Splashey and 

 Josher, ye knows, not in the shootin' way, though 

 Splashey made all Josher's shoes an' boots ; but if 

 Josher could take the wind out o' Splashey's sails in 

 shootin', he'd do it. He's told me lots o' times 

 he wus bound to. Our guns had bin loaded, mind 

 ye, fur geese, afore we started. Well, we wus be- 



