Scamp and I: A Story of City By-Ways. Meade L. T.
was considerably frightened, but Jenks, taking these threats for what they were worth, held out firmly for two bobs and a tanner, which in the end he obtained a promise of, on condition that for one week he should tie up Scamp at home and feed him well. At the end of that time Maxey was to have him back, who further promised that Jenks and Dick should see the fight.
“And that ’ere’s pretty sport,” said Jenks, as well satisfied he turned away. “Maxey’s young ’uns are alwis tip-toppers. Won’t ’ee just give it to this willan! I guess there’ll be an hawful row, and not much o’ Scamp left, by the time ’tis hover.” But the further details with which Jenks favoured his young companion are too horrible to relate here. In our Christian England these things are done – done in the dark it is true, but still done.
Dog-fights, though punishable by law, are still held, and young boys and old men flock to them, and learn to be lower than the brutes in diabolical cruelty because of them.
It may still however puzzle those who read Scamp’s history to know of what use he could be in a dog-fight, as only thorough-bred dogs can fight well.
Alas! Scamp could be made use of; such dogs as Scamp can further this wicked sport.
Such dogs are necessary in the training of the fighting-dogs. Jenks knew this well, hence his desire to obtain the poor animal.
His use was this – I here quote from Mr Greenwood’s well-known “Low Life Deeps.”
“He at once good-naturedly explained to me the way in which a young (fighting) dog is trained.
“I was given to understand that the first practice a fighting pup had was with a ‘good old gummer,’ that is to say, with a dog which had been a good one in his day, but was now old, and toothless, and incapable of doing more than ‘mumble’ the juvenile antagonist that was set against him, the one great advantage being that the young dog gained practical experience in the making of ‘points.’
“The next stage, as I was informed, in training the young aspirant for pit-honours was to treat him to a ‘real mouthful,’ or, in other words, ‘to let him taste dog’…” What this means, Mr Greenwood goes on partially to explain, but the explanation is too fearful to be repeated here; suffice it to say that Scamp was the dog that Maxey’s young ’un was to taste.
Considerably elated, the boys started off on their way home. The thought of two-and-sixpence, and a sight of a real dog-fight, was quite enough to silence all Dick’s scruples, and Jenks never had any.
Yet once, long ago now, Jenks had cried when the cat pounced on his canary, once Jenks had a kind heart. It was not all hard yet, though very nearly so. Still some things could touch him, some faces, some words, some tones, could reach a vulnerable part within him. He hardly knew himself that the better part of him, not yet quite dead, was touched, he only called it being in a fix. He was in a fix about Dick. It had been his intention, it had been his motive, in coming to live in the Saint Giles’s cellar, to train Dick as a thief, and if possible Flo also.
He was a very expert young hand himself, – no boy in London with lighter fingers, or more clever in dodging the police, than he. He knew that the first requisite for any successful thief was to possess an innocent appearance, and the moment he saw Dick and Flo he knew that their faces would make their own, and probably his fortune, in this criminal trade. He had gone cautiously about his work, for eyes much less sharp than his must have perceived that the children were strictly honest. Their honesty, their horror of theft, had filled him with surprise, and added greatly to his difficulties. He saw, however, that Dick was the weaker of the two, and his scruples he determined first to overcome. It took him some time, a whole month, but at last Dick fell, and Jenks was triumphant. All now was smooth sailing with him, he was in high, the highest spirits. Dick should be taken down skilfully step by step the broad descent, and presently Flo would follow.
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