respectable man, but you can't say that of a rattling, splashing
'ansom. Any boy would do for that job. Now, to my mind money hain't
to be compared to position, whatever a man's trade may be."

"Certainly not!" I answered.

"Besides, I've saved my little penny, and I'm got too old to change
my ways. I've begun on a growler, and I'll end on one. If you'll
believe me, sir, I've been on the streets for seven-and-forty year."

"That's a long time," I said.

"Well, it's long for our trade," he replied. "You see, there
ain't no other in the world that takes the steam out of a man so quickly--
what with wet and cold and late hours, and maybe no hours at all. There's
few that lasts at it as long as I have."

"You must have seen a deal of the world during that time," I
remarked. "There are few men who can have greater opportunities of
seeing life."

"The world!" he grunted, flicking up the horse with his whip. "I've
seen enough of it to be well-nigh sick of it. As to life, if you'd
said death, you'd ha' been nearer the mark."

"Death!" I ejaculated.

"Yes, death," he said. "Why, bless your soul, sir, if I was to write
down all I've seen since I've been in the trade, there's not a man
in London would believe me, unless maybe some o' the other cabbies.