EthicalDative

Gerry Rattigan is the publican who operates the Thane of Thoth, the watering hole popular among the better sort of denizens of Chichesterton-Upon-Hogg — though, to be sure, it’s also the only such establishment in the village. Gerry customarily nicks for himself a generous tip from the large-denomination note Sir Alistair Chichester drops nonchalantly on the countertop to cover his daily consumption of bitter. The purloined gratuity comes to thrice the wholesale cost of bitter (three shillings tuppence the pint — toss the tuppence in odd years owing to the Regency Levy exemptions for baronial preserves) summed to twice again that multiple.

Question: What does Gerry’s outrageous windfall for his simpering service amount to in a fortnight?

(Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)

Lamont Ledbetter buys the jerseys for the Birch Sidewinders every year. Well, not him personally, but the Stockmen’s Bank over in Birch where he’s president. We’ll play Birch at homecoming. Tuck Ledbetter is a starting corner back for the Sidewinders, but his sister Trance wants to play volleyball here for the Lady Stags — they don’t have a team in Birch. She’ll stay with her aunt Shyanne out in Purling Rill, drive her doolie home on weekends. Lamont and Katelynn promised her a new Silverado with the King Ranch package if she keeps her elibility. If that young lady doesn’t make her grades, it’s not because her parents aren’t trying.

I heard Trance has her eye on Rhett Farber. It’s not common for a Junior girl to go after a Freshman boy, though he does run the four-forty awful fast. You ask me, Rhett needs to keep his head in athletics, and Trance needs to date older boys. I think I’ll mention this to Katelynn when I see her at the game. I can’t imagine her and Lamont would approve of Trance dating beneath her class, especially a Stag and not a Sidewinder.

(Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)