eoffrey.... "Give
me anything you choose!... Every table in the room! No matter what!
I'll break it in two--man or woman! Wood or stone!... It's all one to
me!"

True or not, Hogshead Geoffrey, when not too much in liquor, was a
gentle soul, a simple, kind creature; quick-tempered, kind-hearted.
Liable to sudden gusts of anger, he was equally capable of knocking
the life out of a comrade with his gigantic fist or of comforting some
sniveling street urchin crossing his path.

Well did the Scrub know it. He too was a contradictory mixture. This
mean little human specimen had been newsboy, seller of post cards,
opener of cab doors, Jack of any little trade, the companion of
pickpockets and other light-fingered gentry, also adored the good
manners of bygone vestry days, the polished phrases, the benedictory
gestures!

When in hospital, chance had given him Hogshead Geoffrey for
bed-neighbour. It did not take him long to realise that he would be
the gainer by a friendship with this kindly giant: it would be a
partnership of brain and muscle.... The Scrub commanded: Geoffrey
executed.

When the admiration for his prowess had died down, Hogshead Geoffrey
continued his story:

"When I had given the chief the knock-out, the next day they gave me
the order of the boot, if you would believe me!... I was properly down
and out! I hadn't saved a sou--was in debt right and left, to the
wine-shops--was all but run in!"...

"What did you do?" enquired the Scrub.

"Bobinette helped me."

"Your sister?"

"Oh, she's a sharp one!... She's studied, too!... She did the bandages
at Lariboise!... She had the sous!... I told her my troubles!... She
let me have the dibs, so I could hang on!"

"Until you got a billet at _The Big Tun_?"

"No!... Bobine said: 'Here's gold, little brother! It's all I have ...
don't come for more!... You must find a way out of the mess!'"

"And you did?... How?"

Hogshead Geoffrey hesitated: he sipped his absinthe.

"Oh ... well ... I found a way out."...

"How? I ask you."...

"I tell you I managed all right! And then I got my job at _The Big
Tun_."

"Where you are now?"

"Where I am."

"You paid back your sister?"

Hogshead Geoffrey roared with laughter.

"I paid her back so little that I didn't know what had become of
her!... She had turned her back on Lariboise without leaving an
address.... Thought she must have kicked the bucket!... I would have
been sorry for that!... She's a goo