Friends in Need - Ship's Company, Part 2. by W. W. Jacobs
page 6 of 18 (33%)
page 6 of 18 (33%)
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"You'll 'ave to get a bed this side o' the river somewhere," said Mr.
Brown, slowly. "Coffee-shop or something; and a smart, active man wot keeps his eyes open can always pick up a little money." Mr. Gibbs laughed. "And mind," said Mr. Kidd, furiously, in reply to the laugh, "anything we lend you is to be paid back out of your half when you get it. And, wot's more, you don't get a ha'penny till you've come into a barber's shop and 'ad them whiskers off. We don't want no accidents." Mr. Gibbs, with his back against the post, fought for his whiskers for nearly half an hour, and at the end of that time was led into a barber's, and in a state of sullen indignation proffered his request for a "clean" shave. He gazed at the bare-faced creature that confronted him in the glass after the operation in open-eyed consternation, and Messrs. Kidd and Brown's politeness easily gave way before their astonishment. "Well, I may as well have a 'air-cut while I'm here," said Mr. Gibbs, after a lengthy survey. "And a shampoo, sir?" said the assistant. "Just as you like," said Mr. Gibbs, turning a deaf ear to the frenzied expostulations of his financial backers. "Wot is it?" [Illustration: Mr. Gibbs, with his back against the post, fought for nearly half an hour] He sat in amazed discomfort during the operation, and emerging with his |
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