Who were they to cock their nose? And Lee's ould wife with her strings and her bows, And her streamers and trimmins, and pippin and poppin Her d- -d ould head like a hen with a toppin!" Did she cuss? aye, she cussed, and it's a rael bad hearin, Mind ye! a woman cussin or swearin Partikler your mawther-still for all it's true, There's differin sorts of cussin too. For there's cussin that comes down like fire from heaven Fierce and strong-like the blast that's driven From the mouth of a seven-times heated furnace; That's you see, when a man's in earnes'. A fool's lips runnin with brimstone froth, The muckin skum of the Divil's own broth. "And had they forgot when they lived next door? A lazy lot, and as poor as poor And-Misses Baynes! the beautiful tay You've got! and-I raely think I'll stay And-could you lend me a shillin till to-morrow? Aye, and starvin, and him doin nothin for hours And at it again-" And what she would rather- And what was a bychild, if you come to that? It wasn a dog, and it wasn a cat; But a man's own flesh, and the love and the life And after all why shouldn she be? She was a strappin wench was Jinny Magee, And good at the work, and worth a hundred Of your Betsy things-and why should we be sundered? And Jinny and her would agree, never fear her!" Aw, she was despard though to hear her. "Hush! mawther!" I says, "aw, mawther, hush! And I went, and I never said nothin lek, But I put my arm around her neck, And I looked in her face, and the shape and the strent', And I took her and put her upon the bed Like a little child, and her poor ould head On my breast, and I hushed her, and stroked her cheek, Talkin little talk-the way they speak To babies-I did! and d-- the shame! Was it out of her I came? And I began to think of Absalun, And David cryin "My son, my son!" And the moon come round, and the light shone in, And crep' on her face, and I saw the thin She was, and the wore, and her neck all dried And shrivelled up like strips of hide: And I thought of the time it was as warm And as soft as Betsy's, and her husband's arm A cuddled up, and a suckin free. And I cried like Peter in the Testament, When Jesus looked at him, and out he went, But what there was in his heart there's no knowin. And I swore by the livin God above I'd pay her back, and love for love, And keep for keep, and the wages checked, And her with a note, and all correct. Then I kissed her and she never stirred; And I took my clothes, and, without a word, I shipped foreign of coorse, and a fine ship too, Captain Davis-the time I joined her "Carry-on Davis?" aye, I thought you'd mind her. A tight little ship, and a tight little skipper— Hadn we a race with the Liverpool clipper, The Marco Polo, that very trip? And it's my opinion that if that ship But never mind! she done her duty, And the Marco Polo was a beauty But still-close-hauled, d'ye see? Well! well! That was my ship anyway, And I was aboard her two years to a day, It was dark when I come upon the street," I felt, and the chokin, and over the midden, And a brave big book spread out on her knee, And if they don't understand what they're readin— One way's man's, and the other God's! "But how about Betsy?" well, wait a bit! "Mawther!" I says-my God! the spring She gev, and says she "It's a scandalous thing," And it's bad enough, but I'll have no ghoses! Well, I raely couldn help but laugh. "I'm Thomas Baynes, your son!" I said; "I'm not a ghost." "And aren't you dead?" "No!" I says, and I tuk and gev her a kiss: "Is that like a ghost? 66 Well, I can't say it is." "And-Betsy, mawther?" Aw, Christ, the look! 66 Betsy, mawther?"—the woman shook; And she spread her arms, and I staggered to her, And she wrapped my head in her brat-d'ye hear? And then, my mates, then-then I knew What a man that's backed by the Divil can do. For hadn this Taylor come one day, And tould them I was drowned at sea? And ould Anthony Lee, that might have knew bette Never axed to see the letter Nor nothin, but talked about "Providence ; " And the men at the shore they hadn the seuse And the Pazon as simple as a child, And that's the way the villian beguiled The lot of them, for they didn know What to do or where to go, As if there wasn no owners nor agent, Nor Lloyd's, where they might have heard immadient. And Betsy, be sure, heard all before long, But It cannot be it cannot be!" And paler and paler, I've heard them say; And allis the one against the three- One night he was there, and words ran high- And a big strong man; and he'd often say, So he went up all alone to see her, And the Doctor's vice uncommon thick- " That time, there was none of them ever knew: 3 That's the words I've heard her sing When she was just a little prattlin thing- A child to God! a woman to me! And once I thought-but who can tell! Come give us a drop of drink! the stuff A man will put out when he's dry! that's enough! To hear me talkin religion-eh? You must have thought it strange?-You didn-ye say? You didn!-no !-d- -n it! you didn—you! Well, that'll do, my lads; that'll do, that'll do. Well, of coorse the buryin-terrible grand, But bless me you've seen the lek afore And the Doctor waitin at the door, And wantin somethin-and "Could I see her?" And "Yes! aw yes!" and up the steer And he looked, and he looked-I've heard them say Like a man that's lookin far away; And he kissed her cheek, and he shut the lid, But, however, you musn suppose, my men, To my feet, like a craythur that had been stung, And claps of light and dark by turns, |