The Steam-Packet: A Tale of the River and the Ocean — page 161: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

120 THE STEAM, PACKETs would endeavour to convey an adequate idea of their respective garbs. As it is, our readers must be contented with a rapid glance at the bril- hancy of the scene, and excuse us if we only observe, that one elderly lady was embellished with a valuable antique straw bonnet of fantastic shape ;—a young lady’s head-dress consisted of a large velveteen band - with a Birmingham gold clasp in front; and another snect *in's unassuming garb was a loose bed-gown robe of linsey-woolsey, with petticoat to match. And now for the harder sex, since we have de- scribed the softer. One gentlemanly mdividual of a certain age, and - with a‘care-worn. brow, was attired in an elegant black coat with superb hight brown patches at the elbows ;—a young gentleman looked pecu- harly cool and comfortable in a blouse, without any shirt underneath; —and a third made a handsome apology for appearing in the white coat, which indicated the honourable calling of baker’s apprentice, which he so successfully pursued. He was in the flower of his days, and seemed destined by the yeast of genius to rise as rapidly in the world as the lightest loaf he had ever put into the oven. Mr. Pifpaf was too much overcome with the Burgundy he Lon, drunk at the Hotel de Flandres, and the punch he had imbibed at the theatre, to notice any peculiarities on the part of the respectable com- pany assembled at Mr. Nagle’s abode. Indeed, nothing could equal the civility of this gentleman; for, upon some one inquiring, with great mazveté, “ When the h—Il the supper would be ready 2?” he in- ‘stantly proposed ‘‘ a dodger of cloves and brandy,’ to fill up the inter- val. No sooner had the dram disappeared down the throats of the expectant guests, when a charwoman entered the room, bearing the ‘Supper in a huge wooden tray. The delicacies provided by Mr. Nagle were » of the choicest denidia tion. At the top of the table was the quarter of a household lamb, which had never entailed upon the cruel butcher the crime of an addi- tional murder, it having departed this life three minutes after its en- trance into a world of wickedness and woe. Peace to its cinders !—for to such was the quarter done. At the bottom of the table was a gentle- man-fowl, which had passed a life of eleven long years of utility, and had been knocked over at last by a stone propelled from the sling of Mr. Nagle’s errand-boy, as it was inoffensively perched upon a dung- hill that formed the picturesque scenery of which that gentleman’s window commanded a view. In the centre was a boiled sirloin of beef, concerning which we have no particular observation to make. These luxuries were flanked with enormous flagons of old English ale, and a mighty kettle was singing upon the fire, giving promise of punch afterwards. GComicbooks (E(0)