His wife, with a rapid movement, twisted a slip of paper into a spill,
and, filling it with chips, shook a castor of salt over the top.
Customers crowded about, impatient to be served, and she went through the
movements of twisting the paper, filling it with chips, and shaking the
castor with the automatic swiftness of a machine.

When they were served, the larrikins stood on one side crunching the crisp
slices of potato between their teeth with immense relish as they watched
the cook stirring the potatoes in the cauldron of boiling fat. Then they
licked the grease off their fingers, lit cigarettes, and sauntered on.
But the chips had whetted their appetites, and the sight of green peas
and saveloys made their mouths water.

Men, women, and children sat on the forms round the stall with the stolid
air of animals waiting to be fed. When each received a plate containing
a squashy mess of peas and a luscious saveloy, they began to eat with
slow, animal satisfaction, heedless of the noisy crowd. The larrikins sat
down and gave their order, each paying for his own.

"Nothin' like a feed ter set a man up," said Chook, wiping his mouth with
the back of his hand.

As he turned, he was surprised to see Stinky Collins and Pinkey in front
of the electric battery. These machines had a singular attraction for
the people. The mysterious fluid that ran silently and invisibly through
the copper wires put them in touch with the mysteries of Nature. And they
gripped the brass handles, holding on till the tension became too great,
with the conscientious air of people taking medicine.

Stinky, full of jealous fear, had dragged Pinkey to the new market, where