“I don’t know, sir,” I answered, “more than I’ve heard the young lady call him ‘Nick.’”
“Keep your eye on both of them, Challice,” he says, “for no one, who keeps company with Rummles, will keep straight for long.” And yet I dare not caution the gal I thought so much of against her brother’s friend. But I watched him, aye! like a lynx. My eye was never off Rummles, night nor day. I knew I had but to spot him in the trick to set myself right with Nan. To gain her heart and to marry her, was the dream of my life at that period.
If you had told me then, that I should marry Deborah, with her red hair and blue eyes, and live pretty comfortably with her for the remainder of my life, I should have called you a liar. Black eyes and black hair was all the go with me at twenty-four.
Nan was my first love—sometimes I think she was my last. I was hard hit, no mistake about it, and she was (unfortunately for me) such an uncommon sort of gal, with a Spanish look about her, and such a devil in her eye, as made it difficult for a man to forget her!
Well, I followed my chief’s orders to the letter, and kept my weather eye on Mr. Rummles. The brute seemed to be in luck’s way just then, for he dressed like a gentleman, and kept his hands, as far as I could see, out of other men’s pockets. But I knew I had but to bide my time, to catch him at his old tricks, and so it fell out.
It was a big night at the theayter, the benefit of the manager, who was a favorite all round London, and the crowd was immense, both going in and going out. I had watched Mr. Rummles swaggering in, when the play began—dressed up to the nines, and looking quite the toff, in his own estimation—paying down his money at the box-office like a lord, and ogling all the gals through a sham eye-glass.
“There you go, my beauty,” I thought, “and I daresay, if the truth was known, every copper of your money has come out of your neighbour’s pocket. But I’m looking after you, my lad, and you’ll have to be very clever next time, if you want to do it without my seeing you.”
I spoke to one of my pals about him at the same time, who was told off to look after the inside of the theayter.
“There’s that beauty, Rummles, gone in, Looseley,” I said. “Keep your eye on him. He bought a dress-circle ticket.”
“All right! I know him well! He won’t get the better of me,” says Looseley.