Sketches by Boz - Penn State University

Charles Dickenshad but to walk down Holborn, or Fleet-street, or any The ubiquity of this red cab, and the influence it exercisedover the risible muscles of justice itself, was per-of the principal thoroughfares in which there is a greatdeal of traffic, and judge for yourself. You had hardly fectly astonishing. You walked into the justice-room ofturned into the street, when you saw a trunk or two, the Mansion-house; the whole court resounded with merriment.The Lord Mayor threw himself back in his chair,lying on the ground: an uprooted post, a hat-box, aportmanteau, and a carpet-bag, strewed about in a very in a state of frantic delight at his own joke; every vein inpicturesque manner: a horse in a cab standing by, lookingabout him with great unconcern; and a crowd, shout-at the Lord Mayor’s facetiousness, but more at his own;Mr. Hobler’s countenance was swollen with laughter, partlying and screaming with delight, cooling their flushed the constables and police-officers were (as in duty bound)faces against the glass windows of a chemist’s shop.— in ecstasies at Mr. Hobler and the Lord Mayor combined;’What’s the matter here, can you tell me?’—‘O’ny a cab, and the very paupers, glancing respectfully at the beadle’ssir.’—’Anybody hurt, do you know?’—’O’ny the fare, sir. countenance, tried to smile, as even he relaxed. A tall,I see him a turnin’ the corner, and I ses to another weazen-faced man, with an impediment in his speech,gen’lm’n “that’s a reg’lar little oss that, and he’s a comin’ would be endeavouring to state a case of impositionalong rayther sweet, an’t he?”—”He just is,” ses the against the red cab’s driver; and the red cab’s driver, andother gen’lm’n, ven bump they cums agin the post, and the Lord Mayor, and Mr. Hobler, would be having a littleout flies the fare like bricks.’ Need we say it was the red fun among themselves, to the inordinate delight of everybodybut the complainant. In the end, justice wouldcab; or that the gentleman with the straw in his mouth,who emerged so coolly from the chemist’s shop and be so tickled with the red cab-driver’s native humour,philosophically climbing into the little dickey, started that the fine would be mitigated, and he would go awayoff at full gallop, was the red cab’s licensed driver? full gallop, in the red cab, to impose on somebody else143