TEN THOUSAND POUNDS AND A DINNER. 273 



Jemmy Barber, and ' men of their kidney.' They 

 used to invent all sorts of extravagant, improbable, 

 and most outrageous tales for his amusement, and 

 declare, by all that was good and great, that every 

 word was to the very letter true. But of all the 

 innumerable tales, old and new, these gentry were in 

 the habit of relating to him, I think none took his 

 fancy so much as Coghlan's inimitably told story of 

 his double-event trial for a dinner and a wife. It 

 appears that he had seen in some newspaper that a 

 gentleman intended on the day of her marriage to 

 give the husband of his only daughter £20,000. He 

 therefore dressed in a becoming style, being a smart, 

 o-ood-lookinir fellow, and introduced himself the next 

 day, and the nature of his business, by saying he 

 could save the liberal father £10,000 — a bait suffi- 

 cient to ensure him a good start. He was asked to 

 luncheon, and after full justice was done to the viands 

 and wines, 



' Now,' said his host, ' how can you save me 

 £10,000 ?' 



' By taking your daughter,' he replied, ' at that 

 sum, instead of the £20,000 that you have agreed to 

 give her husband.' 



A hasty exit with considerable force was the result ; 

 but ' £10,000 to nothing was always worth taking on 

 the off-chance of getting it,' as he remarked. 



Another story, told by one of these amusing friends, 

 was to the effect that he, the relater, had never met a 



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