Page 178 - down-and-out-in-paris-and-london

ting lost among the desolate north London slums. Our meal
tickets were directed to a coffee-shop in Ilford. When we
got there, the little chit of a serving-maid, having seen our
tickets and grasped that we were tramps, tossed her head
in contempt and for a long time would not serve us. Final-
ly she slapped on the table two ‘large teas’ and four slices
of bread and dripping—that is, eightpenny-worth of food.
It appeared that the shop habitually cheated the tramps
of twopence or so on each ticket; having tickets instead of
money, the tramps could not protest or go elsewhere.

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