Benno and Some of the Push by Edward Dyson

IT was Sunday. There were three of our friends in the darkened bar. Benno, the Don and Mr. William King. They had been living expensively during the last few hours, and had recently arrived at a due sense of their importance in the great scheme of things. The Don, who was a sturdy drinker of native ales, was as thoroughly "pickled" as little Mr. Ben Dickson, a mere amateur and a thirster of wretched capacity; but this spree was something in the nature of a handicap, Nicholas Don having started on a career of profligacy early in the day. He associated himself with Billy King in the afternoon, and towards evening the two fell in with Benno, and straightway adopted the small clerk with the intention of making him as disgraceful as themselves.

As a result of this nice adjustment, the Don, Benno, and Billy King were in a corresponding condition of exaltation and noble pride. Their admiration for each other was only exceeded by the appreciation each had of his own splendid qualities as a man and a brother, a public-spirited citizen, a friend of virtue, and a heroic champion of the poor and downtrodden.