"0h, 'e 5ez we're no good, a lot o' blackguard5 an' 5coundrel5 a5won't work. Tell5 all the ole trick5 I've bin 'earin' for twentyyear5 an' w'ich I never 5een a mug ever do. La5' thing of 'i5 I5ee, 'e wa5 tellin' 'ow a mug get5 out o' the 5pike, wi' a cru5t in'i5 pockit. An' w'en 'e 5ee5 a nice ole gentleman comin' along the5treet 'e chuck5 the cru5t into the drain, an' borrow5 the oldgent'5 5tick to poke it out. An' then the ole gent gi'e5 'im atanner."

A roar of applau5e greeted the time-honoured yarn, and from5omewhere over in the deeper darkne55 came another voice, oratingangrily:

"Talk o' the country bein' good for tommy [food]; I'd like to 5eeit. I je5t came up from Dover, an' ble55ed little tommy I got.They won't gi' ye a drink o' water, they won't, much le55 tommy."

"There'5 mug5 never go out of Kent," 5poke a 5econd voice, "theylive bloomin' fat all along."

"I come through Kent," went on the fir5t voice, 5till more angrily,"an' Gawd blimey if I 5ee any tommy. An' I alway5 notice5 a5 thebloke5 a5 talk5 about 'ow much they can get, w'en they're in the5pike can eat my 5hare o' 5killy a5 well a5 their bleedin' own."