Prize Money: Sailor's Knots, Part 10

In Short

Set in the cozy, snowbound taproom of the Cauliflower pub in Claybury, W. W. Jacobs’s comic yarn follows a group of local villagers who establish a Christmas raffle for a lavish food-and-drink hamper. The town's notorious sly boots, Bob Pretty, outsmarts the lottery process to claim the prize immediately. Undeterred, the bitter losers devise a clumsy burglary to steal the hamper back, only to walk headlong into Bob’s far superior trap. Jacobs’s famous rural tale endures because of its sharp comic timing, authentic working-class dialect, and timeless depiction of pub-bench rivalries.

The Story

The narrative opens inside the Cauliflower public-house, where an old local regular sits by the fire complaining about the lack of simple amusements in Claybury. He warms to a traveling visitor by launching into the legendary tale of Bob Pretty and the Christmas hamper.

It all begins when Henery Walker returns from visiting a wealthy relative with a grand idea: twenty-three men will each contribute two pennies a week until Christmas to fund a massive festive hamper packed with a turkey, goose, sausages, and six bottles of spirits. Landlord Smith acts as treasurer to keep things honest. Tensions rise when Bob Pretty—the village’s undisputed rascal and poacher—insists on joining. The men fear Bob's uncanny luck, but Smith promises fair play.

On the night of the drawing, the hamper sits proudly decorated with holly. To prevent any accusation of cheating, Smith writes numbers one through twenty-three on slips of paper, folds them up, and places them into a brown paper bag. None of the men want to draw first, fearing bad luck. Sensing their hesitation, Bob Pretty offers to step up, requesting to be blindfolded to prove his innocence. Blindfolded, Bob reaches into the bag, pulls out a slip, and hands it to Smith. To everyone’s sheer horror, Bob draws Number 1 and claims the hamper on the spot. Refusing to share even a single drop with the stunned crowd, Bob slings the prize over his shoulder and marches home.

Suspicion erupts after Bob leaves. Little Dicky Weed, the tailor, realizes how Bob pulled it off: Bob had slipped his own pre-marked paper with "Number 1" into his palm before placing his hand into the bag. After confirming their suspicion by sifting through six remaining slips in the fireplace, the men plot revenge.

Henery Walker proposes a scheme to reclaim the hamper. Two men will stage a public brawl near Bob’s cottage to draw his family outside, allowing Henery to slip through the back door and snatch the hamper. The plan goes ahead, but Bob anticipates the trick. Henery slips inside only to find Mrs. Pretty and her family returning almost instantly. Trapped, Henery hides under the bed, where Mrs. Pretty discovers him and viciously scratches his face.

Shortly after Henery retreats to the pub to report his failure, Bob Pretty swaggeringly enters. Bob threatens to fetch Policeman White to arrest Henery for burglary. To make matters far worse, Bob claims Henery also stole thirty shillings left on the bedroom mantelpiece—the exact proceeds from selling the hamper earlier that day. Faced with the threat of prison for Henery and legal trouble for the pub, the patrons are forced to pool their money together to pay Bob off, leaving Bob with both the cash and the prized hamper.

How It Unfolds

The raffle begins Henery Walker returns to Claybury with a scheme for a shared Christmas hamper, securing twenty-three contributors at two pence a week. The village rascal, Bob Pretty, joins the pool, provoking deep mistrust among the regulars who suspect he will find a way to win.

The winning draw Landlord Smith prepares numbered slips from one to twenty-three in a paper bag to determine the winner. Bob Pretty dramatically volunteers to draw first while blindfolded, immediately pulling the winning Number 1 slip and leaving the pub with the entire hamper.

The deceit uncovered After Bob departs, Dicky Weed realizes Bob hid a pre-written slip in his hand prior to reaching into the bag. The angry regulars search the ashes in the fireplace, finding left-over slips that confirm Bob cheated them out of their festive feast.

The failed heist The men construct a plan to stage a fake street fight outside Bob's house to draw his family out while Henery Walker sneaks inside to steal the hamper back. The trick fails miserably when Henery gets caught hiding under Bob's bed and suffers a scratched face from Mrs. Pretty.

The final shake-down Bob confronts Henery at the pub, accusing him of breaking in and stealing thirty shillings off the mantelpiece. Terrified of the police, the regulars are forced to pool their own money to pay Bob off, allowing him to keep both the cash and the hamper.

The People

• Bob Pretty: Claybury’s cleverest poacher and resident trickster. He joins the hamper club specifically to outwit his neighbors, using calculated performance, fake modesty, and ruthless legal threats to fleece the pub regulars twice over.
• Henery Walker: The ambitious organizer of the raffle who prides himself on his cunning. His eagerness to outsmart Bob backfires completely, leaving him battered under a bed and facing potential imprisonment.
• Mr. Smith: The landlord of the Cauliflower public-house. He strives to keep order and ensure absolute fairness in the lottery, but his strict desire to protect his pub's legal reputation ultimately forces the men to pay Bob's blackmail.
• Bill Chambers: A skeptical regular who distrusts Bob from the start. Despite his tough talk and willingness to organize the retrieval of the hamper, he quickly shifts responsibility onto Henery when the plan falls apart.
• Dicky Weed: The observant local tailor whose sharp mind deduces Bob’s blindfold trick, though his discovery comes too late to stop the villain from walking away with the prize.

In Its Own Voice

"Claybury men don't have much time for amusements. The last one I can call to mind was Bill Chambers being nailed up in a pig-sty he was cleaning out, but there was such a fuss made over that--by Bill--that it sort o' disheartened people."

The narrator sets the dry, unhurried tone of rural village life while describing the limited local entertainment.

"He'll 'ave the same chance as all of you," he ses. "No more and no less."

Landlord Smith reassures the suspicious pub regulars about Bob Pretty's entry into the Christmas hamper raffle.

"I left my pore wife with 'er apron over her 'art sobbing as if her 'art would break... not because o' the loss of the money so much, but to think of Henery Walker doing such a thing--and 'aving to go to jail for it."

Bob Pretty delivers a masterclass in theatrical guilt while extorting thirty shillings from the terrified villagers.

What It's Really About

Jacobs delivers a sharp comedy about the folly of small-town self-importance and the vulnerability of honest men when faced with total lack of scruples. The regulars of the Cauliflower pub believe their collective vigilance and basic moral code will protect them, yet their gullibility makes them easy prey for a mastermind like Bob Pretty. The story explores the social dynamics of working-class village life, where pride and the fear of public embarrassment often prevent people from admitting they have been cheated. Ultimately, it highlights how a single clever opportunist can weaponize the rules of civility, turn legal threats against his victims, and walk away with the prize every single time.

Why Read It Today

W. W. Jacobs is best remembered today for his classic horror tale The Monkey's Paw, but Prize Money showcases his brilliant, equal mastery of traditional English humor. Readers who appreciate sly wit, pub banter, and vintage comedy will find this short story an absolute delight. Jacobs constructs an engaging narrative arc in just a few pages, driven entirely by rich dialogue and clever plot twists.

Modern readers should be prepared for heavy rendering of 19th-century regional English dialect (e.g., "'ave", "wot", "fust"), which captures the cadence of uneducated rural speech. Once your ear tunes into the phonetic rhythm, the prose flows with remarkable speed and warmth. The story offers an authentic, unvarnished look at Victorian-era village life, free from sentimental romanticism. It stands as a timeless, lighthearted study of human nature, showing that no matter the era, an honest group of pub regulars is no match for a dedicated village rogue.