“Why ain’t ye at work?” repeated his wife.
“It be close upon dinner-time,” answered the man good-humouredly. “It weren’t worth while goin’ up there for less nor ’arf a hour.”
“What—ye don’t mean to tell me ye ’aven’t been to work at all?” screamed the little woman. “’Close upon,’ indeed! ’Aven’t ye got turned off jobs times untold ’cos o’ ‘close upon’? It be allers ‘close upon’ dinner-time or tea-time or leavin’ off time wi’ you! If Major Dennis turns ye off again, ’e won’t take ye on no more, and you know that well enough!”
“I wouldn’t stand it, I wouldn’t,” laughed the demon at the corner.
Jerry looked doubtfully from one to the other, still smiling; then something that was almost a flash of anger came from the soft, dark eyes.
“And I be dashed if I do,” said he, taking off his cap and digging his great fingers into the crisp, black curls! “A man must ’ave ’is bit o’ leisure, damn it all! I’ve worked for the Major nigh upon five years....”
There was a roar of laughter at this, and Jerry himself smiled.
“Well, I mean countin’ the off-times,” he added, without the slightest touch of ill-humour.
“The times ’e ’ave turned ye off, ye mean, and took ye on again, eh?” put in the chorus.
“And I be darned if I be goin’ to work for ’im no more if I can’t do it my own way,” concluded the giant, without regarding the interruption otherwise than by his pleasant smile. “I ain’t got the ’ealth to keep it up mornin’, noon and night without so much as a breathing....”