le man with a
cutaway coat several sizes too large for him. 'I was workin' for ole
Buncer, over at Windley, an' you all knows as 'e don't arf lower it.
Well, one day, when I knowed 'e was on the drunk, I 'ad to first coat a
room out--white; so thinks I to meself, "If I buck up I shall be able
to get this lot done by about four o'clock, an' then I can clear orf
'ome. 'Cos I reckoned as 'e'd be about flattened out by that time, an'
you know 'e ain't got no foreman. So I tears into it an' gets this
'ere room done about a quarter past four, an' I'd just got me things
put away for the night w'en 'oo should come fallin' up the bloody
stairs but ole Buncer, drunk as a howl! An' no sooner 'e gits inter
the room than 'e starts yappin' an' rampin'." "Is this 'ere hall
you've done?" 'e shouts out. "Wotcher bin up to hall day?" 'e ses, an'
'e keeps on shouting' an' swearin' till at last I couldn't stand it no
longer, 'cos you can guess I wasn't in a very good temper with 'im
comin' along jist then w'en I thought I was goin' to get orf a bit
early--so w'en 'e kept on shoutin' I never made no answer to 'im, but
ups with me fist an' I gives 'im a slosh in the dial an' stopped 'is
clock! Then I chucked the pot o' w'ite paint hover 'im, an' kicked 'im
down the bloody stairs.'

'Serve 'im blooming well right, too,' said Crass as he took a fresh
glass of beer from one of the others, who had just 'stood' another
round.

'What did the b--r say to that?' inquired the tall man.

'Not a bloody word!' replied the little man, ''E picked 'isself up, and
called a keb wot was passin' an' got inter it an' went 'ome; an' I
never seen no more of 'im until about 'arf-past eleven the next day,
w'en I was second-coatin' the room, an' 'e comes up with a noo suit o'
clothes on, an' arsts me if I'd like to come hover to the pub an' 'ave
a drink? So we goes hover, an' 'e calls for a w'iskey an' soda for
isself an' arsts me wot I'd 'ave, so I 'ad the same. An' w'ile we was
gettin' it down us, 'e ses to me, "Ah, Garge," 'e ses. "You losed your
temper with me yesterday,"' 'e ses.'

'There you are, you see!' said the tall man. 'There's an example for
yer! If you 'adn't served 'im as you did you'd most likely 'ave 'ad to
put up with a lot more ole buck.'

They all agreed that the little man had done quite right: they all said
that they didn' blame him in the least: they would all have done the
same: in fact, this was the way they all conducted t