Fact'ry 'Ands by Edward Dyson

MR. GEORGE MILLS, packer, was not wholly impervious to the arrows of the little love god. He had not served, for twelve years or more, on the top flat at Spats', with girls of all ages, all sorts and sizes, and every make and shape, gathered about him, without sustaining wounds. But Feathers was a philosopher.

"Er man learns a bit 'bout women in a crib like this," he said, ruminating over a quid, "n' the more he learns, the more he puts his confidence in beer."