He gave William a piece of chewing-gum, which William proudly took and chewed and swallowed, and led him to a street-corner, from where a coffee-stall could be seen in a glare of flaming oil-jets.
“You just say ‘’Erb sent me,’ an’ you bet you’ll get a tanner when she shuts up—if she’s not in a paddy. Go on. Goo’-night.”
He fled, leaving William to approach the stall alone. A large, untidy woman regarded him with arms akimbo.
“I’ve come ter ’elp with the stall,” said William, trying to speak with the purest of Cockney accents. “’Erb sent me.”
The woman regarded him with a hostile stare, still with arms akimbo.
“Oh, ’e did, did ’e? ’E’s allus ready ter send someone else. ’E’s gone ter the picshers, I suppose? ’E’s a nice son fer a poor woman ter ’ave, isn’t ’e? Larkin’ abaht orl day an’ goin’ ter picshers orl night—an’ where do Oi come in? I asks yer, where do Oi come in?”
William, feeling that some reply was expected, said that he didn’t know. She looked him up and down. Her expression implied that her conclusions were far from complimentary.
“An’ you—I serpose—one of the young divvils ’e picks up from ’Evving knows where. Told yer yer’d git a tanner, I serpose? Well, yer’ll git a tanner if yer be’aves ter my likin’, an yer’ll git a box on the ears if yer don’. Oh, come on, do; don’t stand there orl night. ’Ere’s the hapron—buns is a penny each, an’ sangwiches a penny each, and cups o’ corfy a penny each. Git a move on.”
He was actually installed behind the counter. He was actually covered from neck to foot in a white apron. His rapture knew no bounds. He served strong men with sandwiches and cups of coffee. He dropped their pennies into the wooden till. He gave change (generally wrong). He turned the handle of the fascinating urn. He could not resist the handle of the little urn. When there were no customers he turned the handle, to see the little brown stream gush out in little spurts on to the floor or on to the counter.
His feeling of importance as he handed over buns and received pennies was indescribable. He felt like a king—like a god. He had forgotten all about his family....