MINOR SCOUNDREL AND MAJOR SCOUNDREL. 331 



knowing fellow, lie either tells a long tale, and a plausi- 

 ble one ; or as this is attended with some danger, from 

 fear any discrepancy may arise between what he may 

 think proper to say and what (when he comes) the 

 Major or Colonel may say, he represents himself as 

 only the helper ; the coachman is out (of course) ; 

 but the said helper is quite at home, though " he does 

 not know much about the horses as he has only lately 

 come ;" but the Major or Gentleman, will be here in 

 a few minutes, as he always comes at — o'clock. Of 

 course he does come immediately, as he would at any 

 other hour, being always in ambush in some public- 

 house that commands the Mews : if not, he has some 

 one sent to let him know when any one goes to the 

 stable. Now our friend Rascal does not take the 

 principal character here, for they could not make the 

 greenest of the green mistake him for a gentleman, or 

 a Major (unless it might be a ci-devant Major of the 

 Venezuela Brigade) : no ; Rascal takes the lower 

 characters in the by-play, and here enacts the part of 

 Quickener again (in some character) if he is wanted ; 

 but the principal is some scamp, who was probably a 

 croupier at some low gambling house till he was 

 kicked out of it, or low better on the turf till no one 

 would bet with him, having varied his avocations by 

 a little general swindling, occasional horse-dealing, 

 playing bully to some fair demirep, and probably not 

 refusing a watch if it chooses to jump into his hand. 

 Still, as gentlemen throw themselves at times into 

 strange situations in our little Metropolitan Village, 

 he has seen enough of them to get a certain knowledge 

 of dress and address, which lasts till something occurs 

 to draw him out. Then the knowledge he has of 

 words, and the multitudinous selection of epithets he 



