The Steam-Packet: A Tale of the River and the Ocean — page 47: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

| gir 30 THE STEAM PACKET. ‘‘Nothink a-year, paid quarterly, ’spose?” interrupted the young hee ay eo a ‘‘No jokes at my expense, if you please,’ said the captain re- provingly. ‘All familiarity ceases between us from the moment you take the last drop of that grog, and smoke the last whiff of that cigar. Are you agreeable to serve me?”’ “ Quite,” was the reply. ‘“‘But your mother?” said Captain Pentonville, inquiringly. “Will be blessed glad to get rid of me,” ’ observed Tom Gibbins laconically. ‘“‘Go down and desire the respectable jadg to come up.” Mr. Gibbins obeyed this mandate, and speedily returned with his mother, who had just extracted her arms from a huge pail of — in which he was washing the captain’s linen. ‘¢Mrs. Gibbins, I am anxious to provide for your son; and an opportunity now presents itself. I am going to be married to a wealthy and ee lady, and require a liverye Servant Hece homo!” ‘¢ Vell, sir, I’m wery much obleeged to you for your kind intentions,” said the ae woman, fidgetting with one corner of her apron. “I’ve reared him up-as vell as my poor means has allowed me; and bein’ now a lone vidder, vith thirteen on ’em to purvide for—and he’s as like his blessed father as he vell can be,” she added, wiping her eyes with the apron. ‘‘ His father was a wery good husband to me, although he did spend the best part of his time in the public—for he was the glory of the parlour, he was. Lord, I thinksI see him now—coming reeling in, so tipsy he couldn’t see, and ready to turn the house out 0’ the vindy. Oh! he was a wery great loss to me—a wery great loss! But God is good to us—wery good, sir: he has sent us good lodgers— who alvays: does pay reglar—’cos I never lets the rent akkumilate—it’s a bad habit. But, if so be, sir, you chooses to take Tummas there, and make him a 1 good boy—for he has but two faults that I knows on, 93 ‘‘ And wot’s them, mother?”’ demanded the young man, sg a comical leer. “Oh! ll speak it “afore his face, or behind his back,” continued Mrs. Gibbins; “he’s a good son to me, only he has them two faults which p’raps you can correct, sir. Fust, sir, he’s sich a liar there ain’t no believin’ a vord he says; and next, sir, if there is a drop of lush to be got at, he’ll have it, sir. There’s no mietiie about that. He takes after his dear blessed father wot’s gone, sir!” And here the widow wiped her eyes once more. Gomicbooks (E(0)