Читать книгу Charles Peace, or The Adventures of a Notorious Burglar онлайн

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“What a dirty piece of business!” said the man by the fireplace.

“Disgraceful!” exclaimed Mr. Green. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

“It wasn’t nice,” said the gipsy, “and went against the grain. When I was limping across the field as if I was hurt, didn’t my lord swear at me like a good un afore everybody? He called me every name he could think of, but I bore it all like a lamb.

“I always thought my lord looked shy at me after this, and never treated me on the same footing as before.

“The truth is, if you once make yourself a rascal to serve a rich man he never likes to see you under his nose any more.

“About a month after this the ‘bruiser,’ whom I had never seen before the race, sends a gig over for me from the next market town, and when I gets there, ‘Well,’ says he, ‘my lord is going to sell his stud, and bids me say that he shall not want your services any more. He has sent you fifty pounds as a present.’ He handed me a note for that amount, which you may be sure I collared.