Some grumble but all submit, and the diddler goes
home a wealthier man by some fifty or sixty dollars well earned.
This taking a toll from a great crowd of people is an excessively
troublesome thing.
A neat diddle is this. A friend holds one of the diddler's
promises to pay, filled up and signed in due form, upon the ordinary
blanks printed in red ink. The diddler purchases one or two dozen of
these blanks, and every day dips one of them in his soup, makes his
dog jump for it, and finally gives it to him as a bonne bouche. The
note arriving at maturity, the diddler, with the diddler's dog,
calls upon the friend, and the promise to pay is made the topic of
discussion. The friend produces it from his escritoire, and is in
the act of reaching it to the diddler, when up jumps the diddler's dog
and devours it forthwith. The diddler is not only surprised but
vexed and incensed at the absurd behavior of his dog, and expresses
his entire readiness to cancel the obligation at any moment when the
evidence of the obligation shall be forthcoming.
A very mean diddle is this. A lady is insulted in the street by a
diddler's accomplice. The diddler himself flies to her assistance,
and, giving his friend a comfortable thrashing, insists upon attending
the lady to her own door. He bows, with his hand upon his heart, and
most respectfully bids her adieu. She entreats him, as her
deliverer, to walk in and be introduced to her big brother and her
papa.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16