CHAPTER XXX 



Recollections of Romano's " The Squire '-' and his Satellites 

 Colonel North's Fancy Dress Ball Return of Phil May 

 Splendid Work Phil May at his Best A great Christmas 

 Number Phil May's Methods Invention of The Parson 

 and the Painter The Hansard Union Fight An Unsought - 

 for Combat How it was fought Bubbles Horatio 

 Bottomley, a John Bull Fighter The Publishing Trade 

 warned The Fire -Escape and Parnell The Hansard 

 Union killing St Stephen's before its own Demise I clear out 



OUR office being in John Street, Adelphi, made me 

 a regular habitue of Romano's for luncheon and 

 so forth, in the days when it was of the rifle 

 gallery width, and a delightful place it was. Of course 

 I well knew all The Sporting Times crowd of that day, 

 more particularly " the Shifter " and " Gubbins." The 

 " Roman " himself was an ideal host, though always with 

 an eye to the main chance. For example, he had been 

 caught one day by a man who betted him an even fiver 

 that he could see the clock at the Law Courts from the 

 pavement just in front of the restaurant. Not one man 

 in a hundred would believe that this can be done, but it 

 can, and so Romano found when he stepped outside to 

 make trial and decide the wager. 



He paid the 5 and waited an opportunity. This 

 occurred as he thought the next day, when he intro- 

 duced the question about seeing the Law Courts clock 

 from the pavement outside. A customer ridiculed the 

 idea and ultimately bet an even 10 that the clock 

 could not be seen. Romano, of course, thought the 10 

 already won, and they stepped out to settle the matter. 

 There was no clock to be seen at all that day ! It had 

 been removed for repairs, and Romano had to disburse 

 10, to his unutterable disgust. 



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