158 WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN. 



an' a bit o' the barrel, hed gone down the wall with 

 him, t'other part on her hed gone by my head. Up 

 cums Josher, all in a blow-like, an' Old Craft, fur 

 he'd sloped off as well, an' there they sees him laid 

 out with blood on his face, an' his nose swell'd up 

 as big nearly as his paste-horn. 



" Sez they tu me, ' She's wrecked him at last ; ' 

 but sez I tu them, ' Let's see ef he can't be roused 

 up.' So I breaks the ice at the edge o' the dyke 

 with my foot, takes off my red comforter, makes 

 a wet ' swab ' on it, an' while they mucked him 

 up I swabbed him down, like. A goodish bit on 

 it went inside his shirt, I kin tell ye; but it did 

 Splashey a power o' good, fur he begun tu make 

 the most desprit faces, thin he opins his eyes, an' 

 sez he, ' Where's them geese ? ' 



" The long-shanked old fool hed actooally druv 

 a bullet down his shooter, an' it hed stuck three 

 parts down, unbeknown to him. So she busted 

 up." 



Josher Hulldown got his title in this way. He 

 had vested interest in a certain trading barge called 

 the Hoy. We knew her well. She brought all the 

 commodities of civilised life, as they existed at that 



