Odd Craft

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Odd Craft

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Odd Craft, Complete, by W.W.
Jacobs This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
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Title: Odd Craft, Complete
Author: W.W. Jacobs
Release Date: April 30, 2004 [EBook #12215]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ODD
CRAFT, COMPLETE ***

Produced by David Widger

ODD CRAFT
BY

W. W. JACOBS

1909

Contents:
THE MONEY-BOX
THE CASTAWAY
BLUNDELL'S IMPROVEMENT
BILL'S LAPSE
LAWYER QUINCE
BREAKING A SPELL
ESTABLISHING RELATIONS
THE CHANGING NUMBERS
THE PERSECUTION OF BOB PRETTY
DIXON'S RETURN
A SPIRIT OF AVARICE
THE THIRD STRING
ODD CHARGES
ADMIRAL PETERS

THE MONEY-BOX

Sailormen are not good 'ands at saving money as a rule, said the
night-watchman, as he wistfully toyed with a bad shilling on his
watch-chain, though to 'ear 'em talk of saving when they're at sea and
there isn't a pub within a thousand miles of 'em, you might think
different.
[Illustration: "Sailormen are not good 'ands at saving money as a rule."]
It ain't for the want of trying either with some of 'em, and I've known
men do all sorts o' things as soon as they was paid off, with a view to
saving. I knew one man as used to keep all but a shilling or two in a
belt next to 'is skin so that he couldn't get at it easy, but it was all no
good. He was always running short in the most inconvenient places.
I've seen 'im wriggle for five minutes right off, with a tramcar
conductor standing over 'im and the other people in the tram reading
their papers with one eye and watching him with the other.
Ginger Dick and Peter Russet--two men I've spoke of to you
afore--tried to save their money once. They'd got so sick and tired of
spending it all in p'r'aps a week or ten days arter coming ashore, and
'aving to go to sea agin sooner than they 'ad intended, that they
determined some way or other to 'ave things different.
They was homeward bound on a steamer from Melbourne when they
made their minds up; and Isaac Lunn, the oldest fireman aboard--a very
steady old teetotaler--gave them a lot of good advice about it. They all
wanted to rejoin the ship when she sailed agin, and 'e offered to take a
room ashore with them and mind their money, giving 'em what 'e called
a moderate amount each day.
They would ha' laughed at any other man, but they knew that old Isaac
was as honest as could be and that their money would be safe with 'im,
and at last, after a lot of palaver, they wrote out a paper saying as they
were willing for 'im to 'ave their money and give it to 'em bit by bit, till
they went to sea agin.
Anybody but Ginger Dick and Peter Russet or a fool would ha' known
better than to do such a thing, but old Isaac 'ad got such a oily tongue

and seemed so fair-minded about wot 'e called moderate drinking that
they never thought wot they was letting themselves in for, and when
they took their pay--close on sixteen pounds each--they put the odd
change in their pockets and 'anded the rest over to him.
The first day they was as pleased as Punch. Old Isaac got a nice,
respectable bedroom for them all, and arter they'd 'ad a few drinks they
humoured 'im by 'aving a nice 'ot cup o' tea, and then goin' off with 'im
to see a magic-lantern performance.
It was called "The Drunkard's Downfall," and it begun with a young
man going into a nice-looking pub and being served by a nice-looking
barmaid with a glass of ale. Then it got on to 'arf pints and pints in the
next picture, and arter Ginger 'ad seen the lost young man put away six
pints in about 'arf a minute, 'e got such a raging thirst on 'im that 'e
couldn't sit still, and 'e whispered to Peter Russet to go out with 'im.
"You'll lose the best of it if you go now," ses old Isaac, in a whisper;
"in the next picture there's little frogs and devils sitting on the edge of
the pot as 'e goes to drink."
"Ginger Dick got up and nodded to Peter."
"Arter that 'e kills 'is mother with a razor," ses old Isaac, pleading with
'im and 'olding on to 'is coat.
Ginger