Page:The London Guide and Stranger's Safeguard.djvu/70

54 them throughout the year. Strolling into an Inn yard in VVhitechapel a few days ago, to pick up information for this book, I walked into the "tap-room," to notice the manoeuvres upon the arrival of a coach,—then expected. Here presently came in a horse-keeper, the ostler, a waiter, and a hanger-on, whom I knew to be a thief, from a cut in his face, which I noticed particularly when upon his trial once. They called for the cards, as a thing of course, and played at all-fours, for porter and small wagers.

While I gave them room to imagine I was such a fool as to be touting the landlady, I had an eye to the game, in which there was no small cheating. In order to make friends with the hanger-on, I called out, in slang, when his adversary rubbed off a chalk too many. My eye! how he did open! "Called him all but a gentleman," in such rum style, and offered two to one upon the game as it now stood, which was accepted by a young countrynmn, who had been foolishly induced to hold their stakes from the beginning, which was the first step towards being taken in. By the way, in putting down again the chalk, which had been so improperly taken, our hanger-on extended his little finger in such a manner as to rub out one of his own chalks;