138 



THE TRINITY FOOT BEAGLES 



give the spoon to my brother, and you should 'a' seed the face 'e 

 made when 'c got it in 'is mouth, sir ! You see, sir, it warn't 



no greengage jam at all, sir, but 

 "'^^^ some o' this 'ere old green sof soap 

 as they'd set out a purpose ; but I 

 wasn't going to let my brother see 

 then, not till 'e'd 'ad a spoonful hisself." 

 And Bob, who is something of an 

 artist, did not " let on " to me either till 

 the last minute, so well did he keep up 

 his tale. Tlien he told of how they 

 could not get rid of the stuff', which 

 lathered in their mouths so that sleep 

 was denied them ; of how like in 

 colour and translucency green 

 soft soap is to greengage jam ; of 

 how they were, of course, found 

 out ; and told how the punish- 

 thieving, and how Bob was then 



Greengage Jam. 



ment fitted the crime of larder 

 allowed a little breakfast. 



After this came the tale of his apprenticeship to a plumber ; of 

 how he did not like plumbing ; of how his mother packed his box and 

 helped him to get clear away ; of how " they " was after him, and how 

 his mother pointed out that pursuit was useless, as even if he came 

 back he would not work. One man can bring back a renegade 

 apprentice, but ten cannot make him plumb. So Bob came to his 

 true vocation in the Histon Road, and to his many and varied duties, 

 whose details are to be culled from memoranda in the Farmers' 

 Book, and which may be found in Chapter VIII. And here you may 

 observe a more important truth, which is that although a youth of 

 character and unique vocation must of necessity break away from the 

 commonplace career that his parents devise for him, none the less 

 what he learns in his enforced apprenticeships often stands him in 

 good stead. Bob's experience with the butcher has been most 

 valuable in fitting him to prepare horseflesh for the boiling copper, 

 and that with the plumber, painter, and glazier has made him handy 



