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Bill's Lapse: Odd Craft, Part 4.

W. W. Jacobs

Bill's Lapse: Odd Craft, Part 4.

Bill Burton has the shoulders of a man who could crush a timber beam and the conscience of a boy who just broke his mother's favorite vase. A sailor of modest ambitions and genuine kindness, Bill has sworn off drink, and for a while, his mates at the pub respect his choice. But respect only lasts so long in a London waterfront tavern, and soon enough, Bill finds himself back at the bar, the first pint becoming the fifth before anyone's noticed what's happening. The morning after brings a different kind of reckoning: his friends battered and bandaged, their injuries a map of Bill's own fists. Overcome with shame, Bill does what any sensible man would do. He runs. What ensues is a spectacularly botched attempt at escape that Jacobs delivers with the dark wit that made him famous. The story stings because there's no redemption, only the hollow comedy of a man who cannot outrun himself.

Project Gutenberg

A short story written during the early 20th century. The narrative revolves around the character of Bill Burton, a physi...

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Bill's Lapse: Odd Craft, Part 4.

Bill's Lapse: Odd Craft, Part 4.

Project Gutenberg · 19 pages

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