“We won’t go home till morning, We won’t go home till morning, Till daylight doth appear,”
it might have turned round and bawled out, “Am not I thine ass?” Unfortunately for the poor dumb animal there was no one in its load that had sense, except in response to a policeman’s cudgel, to understand the meaning of “Am not I thine ass?” And away it hobbled and limped till it was out of sight. By this time perhaps the poor thing has been made into sausages, and sold to the “poor” as a rich treat for Sunday only.
One of this load of young sinners stood up in their midst—or I should say was propped up—and, with his hat slouching backward in his neck, shouted, “Mates, let’s give three cheers for Epping Forest.” “All right,” they cried out, “Hip, hip, hurrah! hip, hip, hurrah!” Another bawled out, “Let’s give three cheers for Easter Monday.” “Bravo, Jack; that’s it!” shouted a third, as he lay “all of a heap” at the bottom of the cart. “Hip, hip, hurrah! hip, hip, hurrah! hip, hip, hip—” but they could not in this trial of strength get any farther. The “hurrah” was left for another Easter Monday. By this time, owing to the fumes of the beer barrel and the jolting of the cart, they had become such a “set out as I never did see.” Out of this pell-mell cartload of sin one of the crew, who needed a “slobbing bib,” cried out, “I—I—I say, Bill, let’s give three cheers for your old cat.” “You fool, we have no old cat,” said Bill. “I didn’t say you had.” “You did.” “I didn’t.” “You did,” said Bill. “If you say so again, I’ll punch you.” “Punch away,” said Bill. “Stop till we get to the ‘Robin Hood,’ and then I’ll show you who’s master.” “Sit down, you fool,” said Bill; “you have not the heart of a chicken.”
The Royal Road and Connaught Lake were beheld and passed over, and now, after observing and star-gazing right and left, I was among the gipsies to the left of the Forest Hotel. There was no mistaking them; for some of the poor women with their babies in their arms showed the usual signs of having been in the “wars,” by exhibiting here and there a “black eye;” and without any signs of the maiden and virgin modesty, romantic, backwood gipsy writers, who have never visited gipsy wigwams, say is one of the peculiar traits of gipsy character. Here there were droves of gipsies of all shades, caste, and colour, shouting, fighting, swearing, lying, and thieving to their heart’s content, with hordes of children exhibiting themselves in most disgusting positions in the midst of the boisterous laughter of their beastly parents.