BOTH IMPOSTORS.

Southern Cross, Volume 5, Issue 38, 25 December 1897, Page 13

BOTH IMPOSTORS.

A .beggar accosted a gen tleman and •whined —‘ I’m paralysed in both rne 7 ands, mister an’ can’t work, for I can’t grasp any thing with ’em. Could you spare me a trifle, mister P’ ‘l’m deaf,’ replied the gentleman; ‘so you had better write down what you have to say. Here’s a pencil and bit of paper.’ ‘ Deaf, is ’e ?’ thought the begear. ‘Then ’e didn’t ’ear about the paralysis.’ So he wrote down —-‘ I’ve got a wife and six children starvin’ at home, mister. I’ve been out o’ work for six months, an’ ham in a drefful state of distertushun.’ He handed the paper to the gentleman, who read it and said, ‘ I thought you said you were paralysed in both bands, and couldn’t ,grasp anything, and yet you can write.’ ‘ Did —didn’t yer say yer was deaf ?’ stammered the beggar, who now really did feel paralysed. ‘Yes, just to find out if you were an impostor, which you are, as I suspected,’ replied the gentleman. ‘ Well, of all the bloomin’ frauds yer the biggest,’exclaimed the beggar. ‘ The hidea of yer sayin’ yer was deaf, and trying to impose on a pore feller.’ And he shuffled off, sniffing the air with righteous indignation.