dragged it back agean, shoo turned raand an' sed as quiet as could be, "Then what wi ta want to tak' wi thi, coss tha'd better let's be knowin soas aw can get it ready an' net drive ivverything to th' last minit?"

"Varry few things'll suit me, for we're nobbut gooin for a day or two."

"We! who does ta mean bi a 'we'?"

"Aw've been to ax Billy Baccus if he'll goa wi' me, aw thowt he'd be a bit o' cumpny tha knows."

"Oh! Billy Baccus is it? Well an' awm fain tha has axd him! yo do reight to goa together, Billy an' thee! They'd ha built another, exhibition if they'd known you'd been gooin, Billy Baccus! raillee, Sammywell! an' what does his mother say? Is he baan to tak' a brewery wi him or will he rent one wol he's thear?"

Someha this seemed to put Mally in a gooid temper an' aw wor nooan inclined to spoil it, soa aw laft when shoo laft an' ther wor nowt onnymoor sed.

Th' momin sooin coom, an' when aw wor biddin' Mally gooid bye, aw slipt a bit o' paper into her hand at awd scribbled on,

Awm gooin to leeav thi Mally lass,

But tho' aw love to rooam;

Awst nivver let an' haar pass,

Withaat a thowt for hooam.

An' tho' aw feeast mi'een o' seets All strange, an' wondrous grand;

Awst turn mi heart i'th' silent neets,

To this mi' native land.

Awst think o' thee, at's shared mi woe,

'At's proved mi' joy as well;

An' far an' wide wheare'er aw goa,

Awst prize nooan like thisel.

Shoo read it—"A'a, Sammywell!" shoo sed, "tha thinks tha can get ovver me onnytime wi' a bit 0' nonsense like that, but tha mun mind tha doesnt try it on once too oft. Try an' tak' care o' thisen, but whativver else be careful 0' thi umberel!"

Aw wor sooin at th' station an' Billy wor waitin. If ivver aw saw th' pictur o' misery it wor his face that mornin'.

"Ha does ta feel?" aw says.

"War an' war, aw think awst ha to give it up, awm nooan fit to goa."

"It's a pity tha set off," aw sed, "has ta getten wai sin tha left hooam?"

"Nay aw've been soa ivver sin aw saw thi; aw should like to goa, but a'a dear a me!"

"Why then," aw says, "aw need'nt get two tickets?"

"Noa, get one for thisen, aw've getten mine."

"An' whear's thi luggage?"

"Its ith' van yonder all reight."

Aw sed noa moor but gate mi ticket—th' time wor up, we jumpt into th' carriage an' wor sooin off to London.

Original

CHAPTER II. MERCREDI.

Original

EXT to bein' th' eleventh chap to get into a carriage'at's suppooased to be weel packed wi' ten, aw hate to travel wi' one chap'at's made up his mind to be miserable—an' aw could see in a twinklin' 'at Bill meant it.

But aw wor off for a spree, (aw owtn't to ha sed that, for awd left word at hooam'at aw wor gooin to collect information for th' benefit o' mi fellow men,) but whativver wor th' principle reason for me gooin aw know'at th' interest had summat to do wi' a jollification.

"A'a, aw wish awd stopt at hooam," he sed, as sooin as th' train gate aght o'th' station.

"Awm sooary but tha had," aw sed, low daan.

"What says ta?"

"Awm sooary tha'rt soa bad," aw shaated.

"Tha doesn't know what aw suffer, lad. Has ta owt to sup?"

"Eeah, aw've a drop'at Mally wod mak mi bring; see what it's like."

"That stirs it," he sed, when he'd had a gooid swig, "what does ta call it?"

"Nay, aw dooant know for aw've nivver tasted it. Happen it's gin?"

"Is it?" an' he held th' bottle to luk at it. "Maybe it is," he sed, an' he tuk another swig to find aght. "Nay it's nooan gin aw think, aw fancy it's whisky."

"Varry likely it is whisky," aw sed, "it doesn't luk unlike."

"Aw dooant pretend to say'at it is, for awm noa judge, but it happen is gin," an' he supt agean to mak reight sewer, an' then he handed me th' bottle an' sed, "tha can call it what tha likes but aw call it whisky—taste for thisen."

He did reight to say "taste," for he hadn't left enough in for a sup, but aw didn't care for that for it seemed to liven him up a bit, an' bi th' time we stopt at Peterborough he jumpt aght to stretch his legs a bit an' try what sooart o' ale they kept at th' station, an' he lukt leetsomer nor awd seen him for a twelvemonth, an' when he coom back he'd a cigar in his maath an' another for me. "What mak o' ale do they keep?" aw ax'd.

"Muck! Aw wodn't sell sich stuff, an' th' glasses are nobbut like thimmels an' they dooan't aboon hauf fill'em. It's a scandlous shame ha they impooas o' fowk, if awd to do sich things aw couldn't sleep for thinkin' on it," an as if to prove'at he nivver did owt o'th' sooart he lained back his heead an' in a varry little time wor snoorin' away like a bacon makker.

When th' train stopt at th' far end aw had to wak-ken him an' it wor noa easy job. "Come on!" aw sed, "Ger up! Doesn't ta know'at we're at th' far end?"

"Aw care nowt abaat it whear we are, awm nooan baan to get up!"

"But tha mun care, for tha'll be foorced to get aght here; an' whear's thi luggage? If tha doesn't stir thi somdy'll run away wi' it!"

He oppened one e'e abaat hauf way just to squint at me, "An' who's baan to run away wi' it? Let me catch him an' awl bet ther'll be one Frenchman less to feight th' next battle o' Waterloo! Awl poise his frog-aitin heead off his shoolders if he touches owt o' mine!"

"Ther's noa Frenchmen here; tha's nobbut getten to Lundun, an' tha munnot tawk abaat poisin' when tha gets to France, tha'll ha' to leearn to parleyvoo!"

"Aw dooant care whether it's poisin' or parleyvoo-in', awl bet his heead comes off schews ha!"

Just then th' guard coom "All out here! Hi there! what's to do?"

Aw knew th' guard an' he knew me. "O, it's nobbut a friend o' mine'at's been asleep a bit an' didn't know we'd landed," aw sed.

"And where is he off to? not to Paris surely? He'll be lost."

"Nay, he'll nooan be lost for awm'baan wi' him to luk after him."

Aw didn't see owt funny abaat that but he laft wol aw thowt he'd getten a spasm. "And who's going to look after thee, Sammywell?"

"Well, when aw want a bigger fooil nor misen to keep me company awl ax thy maister if he can spare thee for a day or two."

My temper isn't as long as it used to be an' aw didn't relish a strackle brain like him takkin' liberties wi' me, just as if he'd paid his fare an' we'd been paid for commin', an' aw wor i' hauf a mind to goa to th' firerup an' ligg a complaint, but Billy had his hand on his wayscoit agean an' began grooanin.

"Well, what says ta," he sed, "are we to goa onny farther or stop whear we are? Aw wor nivver fit to set off i' this state an' aw should nivver ha' come but for thee. An' what are we to do wi' this luggage? An' what time does train start? An' whear does it start throo? An' what are we to do wi' ussen wol it does start? An' what's to come o' yond malt'at's masht? An' ha does ta expect an old woman like mi mother to be able to tun? It wor a wrang-heeaded affair ivver to set off an' if we nivver get back it'll be thy fault."

"Bless mi life!" aw sed, "tha needn't goa! Tiler'll be a train back to