“Then what did you drag ’em in for?” countered Mr. Tridge.
“I only wanted to see if you knew what kind of chaps prize-fighters was like to get into trouble with.”
“Well, and what did you want to know that for?” queried Mr. Tridge, vigilantly.
“So as to see whether you’d realize, by comparison, what a very different sort of job this is I’m offering you.”
“’Ave it your own way,” said Mr. Tridge, guardedly. “You go on and say all you’ve got to say, and I’ll listen. That’s all I’ll promise.”
Thus encouraged, Mr. Dobb began to entertain his old shipmate with a character sketch of a certain Mr. Jevvings, Christian name either Haugustas or Hadolphus.
But whatever uncertainty Mr. Dobb might have as to Mr. Jevvings’ correct baptismal name, he had none as to Mr. Jevvings’ character. Mr. Jevvings, testified Horace, was a sport, a nut, a scorcher, a lad of the village, and a real caution. Also, it appeared, he was a knockout, a go-er, and, likewise, a cough-drop. Alternatively, he was also the limit. Mr. Tridge, nodding his head sapiently over these titles to fame, epitomized them all in the surmise that Mr. Jevvings must be a lively sort of card, and this description of the young gentleman gained Mr. Dobb’s cordial agreement.
Blessed with a gay disposition, an abundance of cash, and a widespread reputation for boisterous exploits, one might have expected that Mr. Jevvings found life replete with satisfaction. But, no! said Mr. Dobb. Oh, dear, no! There was something which inexorably qualified Mr. Jevvings’ enjoyment of existence. As Mr. Dobb phrased it, there was always a wasp in Mr. Jevvings’ jam.
It seemed that that young gentleman, although of average build, sadly lacked physical prowess, so much so that, in some of his roystering adventures, antagonists had thought nothing of playfully ruffling his hair prior to throwing him through a window. Courage in plenty had Mr. Jevvings, else would he long ago have retired into obscurity, but he had no skill at arms, and very frequently this precipitated an anticlimax in his spirited doings, so that they ended unheroically for him. Too often, in fact, had this happened of late, and consequently Mr. Jevvings’ reputation as a dashing blade was beginning to be clouded by a certain ribald contempt for his activities.
These things did Mr. Dobb explain to Mr. Tridge, in the terms most easily understanded of his old shipmate. Arrived at this point, he leaned impressively forward and tapped Mr. Tridge on the knee.