“What is it, you villain? Can’t you speak?”
“Yes, sir, in course I can.”
“Then why don’t you, you imp of mischief?”
“I’m a-going to.”
“Do it at once—let me know the worst. Is it fire, murder, or thieves?”
“Neither, sir; it’s A1, with a dark lantern.”
“What, in the name of persecution and the new police, does A1, with a dark lantern, want with me?”
“Please, sir, Mr. Brown Bunkem has give him half-a-crown.”
“Well, you little ruffian, what’s that to me?”
“Why, sir, he guv it him to come here, and ask you—”