made war upon him in the shape of
penalties, and he must make war upon society in his own way. This was
the reasoning of the red cab-driver. So, he bestowed a searching look
upon the fare, as he put his hand in his waistcoat pocket, when he had
gone half the mile, to get the money ready; and if he brought forth
eightpence, out he went.

The last time we saw our friend was one wet evening in
Tottenham-court-road, when he was engaged in a very warm and somewhat
personal altercation with a loquacious little gentleman in a green coat.
Poor fellow! there were great excuses to be made for him: he had not
received above eighteenpence more than his fare, and consequently
laboured under a great deal of very natural indignation. The dispute had
attained a pretty considerable height, when at last the loquacious little
gentleman, making a mental calculation of the distance, and finding that
he had already paid more than he ought, avowed his unalterable
determination to 'pull up' the cabman in the morning.

'Now, just mark this, young man,' said the little gentleman, 'I'll pull
you up to-morrow morning.'

'No! will you though?' said our friend, with a sneer.

'I will,' replied the little gentleman, 'mark my words, that's all. If I
live till to-morrow morning, you shall repent this.'

There was a steadiness of purpose, and indignation of speech, about the
little gentleman, as he took an angry pinch of snuff, after this last
declaration, which made a visible impression on the mind of the red
cab-driver. He appeared to hesitate for an instant. It was only for an
instant; his resolve was soon taken.

'You'll pull me up, will you?' said our friend.

'I will,' rejoined the little gentleman, with even greater vehemence an
before.

'Very well,' said our friend, tucking up his shirt sleeves very calmly.
'There'll be three veeks for that. Wery good; that'll bring me up to the
middle o' next month. Three veeks more would carry me on to my birthday,
and then I've got ten pound to draw. I may as well get board, lodgin',
and washin', till then, out of the county, as pay for it myself;
consequently here goes!'

So, without more ado, the red cab-driver knocked the little gentleman
down, and then called the police to take himself into custody, with all
the civility in the world.

A story is nothing without the sequel; and therefore, we may state, that
to our certain knowledge, the board, lodging, and washing were all
provided