“No,” said the audience, “not till we’ve seen if it’s worth a halfpenny.”
William assumed his best showman air.
“This, ladies and gentlemen,” he began, ignoring the fact that his audience consisted entirely of males, “is the only tortoise like this in the world.”
“Seen a tortoise.” “Got a tortoise at home,” said his audience unimpressed.
“Perhaps,” said William crushingly. “But have you ever seen a tortoise with white stripes like wot this one has?”
“No, but I could if I got an ole tin of paint and striped our one.”
William passed on to the next box.
He took out Omshafu.
“This,” he said, “is the only rat inseck of the speeshees of Omshafu——”
“If you think,” said the audience, “that we’re goin’ to pay a halfpenny to see that ole rat wot we’ve seen hundreds of times before, and wot’s bit us, too—well, we’re not.”