Never
saw a finer scene in the course of my life-such queer looks, and long
faces, and smothered wailings when they found themselves done by a brace
of gudgeons, whom they had calculated upon picking to the very bones!
Come, old fellows, a toast: Here's Fishmonger's Hall, and may every
suspected gudgeon prove a shark."
The bottle now circulated freely, and the open-hearted Rattle delighted
us with the relation of some college anecdotes, which I shall reserve
for a hearty laugh when we meet. The company continued to increase
with the appearance of morning; and here might be seen the abandoned
profligate, with his licentious female companion, completing the
night's debauch by the free use of intoxicating liquors--the ruined
spendthrift, fresh from the gaming-table, loudly calling for wine, to
drown the remembrance of his folly, and abusing the drowsy waiter only
to give utterance to his irritated feelings. In a snug corner might be
seen a party of sober, quiet-looking gentlemen, taking their lobster and
bucellas, whose first appearance would impress you with the belief of
their respectability, but whom, upon inquiry, you would discover to be
Greek banditti, retired hither to divide their ill gotten spoils. It was
among a party of this description that Rattle pointed out a celebrated
writer, whose lively style and accurate description of
7 Saint Hugh's bones, a cant phrase for dice.
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