Odd Charges

Odd Charges by W. W. Jacobs opens with a stranger seated at his ease in the warm tap-room of the Cauliflower, who has been eating and drinking for some time. The old man asks the traveller whether he might be a conjurer from London; the traveller shakes his head. The traveller raps three times upon the table with his pipe, and in a very short time a mug of ale and a paper cylinder of shag appear on the table before the old man.

The old man says the traveller is uncommon like a conjurer who came to Claybury some time back and gave a performance in this very room. Dicky Weed grinds his teeth, and Mrs. Pretty comes to the window and drops a coat on his head, saying that Bob felt his kindness very much. John Biggs says he is not going to have his watch lost through want of trying and calls for the conjurer to be tied to the chair, but the conjurer says he will sit still if they like and asks them to bring the chair outside in case of accidents.