Shoo sez at high class at’s laid daan all th’ brass,
Just na they’re beginning to craw;
To mak up for th’ trouble they’re baan to charge double,
For bad spekulashun it law.
So to settle em daan, Sir Christopher Braan
Hez tould ’em it wur his intent,
If thay’d nobbut be quiet till things wur all reight,
He’d give them a trip to Chow Bent.
Yes, and besides a trip to Chow Bent, they gat several more trips promised bi th’ diffrent distingwisht citizens o’ Haworth. One man promised to give ’em a trip to Bullock’s Smithy, anuther to Tinsley Bongs, wal thay wur gettin’ quite up o’ thersels an’ th’ railway. Or else thay’d been for many a year an’ cudn’t sleep a wink at neet for dreamin’ abaat th’ railway ingens, boilers, an’ so on, an’ mony a time thay’ve waken’d i’ ther sleep shakkin’ th’ bed post, thinkin’ thay wur settin’ th’ ingen on or stoppin’ it. But thay’d gotten reight an’ thout thay wur baan to hev no more trouble; but alas, it wur a mistak, for th’ mornin’ of th’ 14th o’ November an oud skyologer went aat a weather-gazin’ an’ planet-rulin, an’ woful news an’ bad omens he browt back wi him, for he sed at th’
Stars wur shoiting in an’ aat,
An’ gravel ratches wur abaat,
An’ th’ folk, he sed thay little knew
Wat mischief it began to brew.
An’ news he spread abaat the taan
Wat lots o’ rain wud tumble daan
An’ like his anshent sires he spoke
The shockin news withaat a joak.
For soin the rain i’ torrent fell,
And o what awful news to tell,
It lookt as claads wur baan to shutter,
For every dyke, an’ ditch, an’ gutter,
A regeler deluge did resemble.
Which made the Haworth folk to tremble.
Sum tried to stop its course wi’ stones,
An’ sum dropt on their marrow bones,
An’ hoped that if the world wur draaned,
The railway wud be saafe an’ saand.
But prayers like theas hed no avail,
For th’ waters deluged all the vale;
An’ th’ latest news ’at I heerd
Th’ railway’s nearly disappear’d;
But if it’s fun withaat a flaw,
Wha, folks, I’m like to let you know.
CHAPTER III.
“Work, Boys, and be Contented.”
Ha, it’s all varry weel for th’ poit to sing that, but if he hed a railway at stake he wud happen alter his tune, an’ espeshully if he wur an eye witness nah, for th’ storm wur ragin’ at th’ heyest, an’ th’ folks wur waiting wi’ pashent expectashun to know whether it wur baan to be at an end or nut, for th’ flooid wur cumin’ daan thicker an faster, an’ thare look’d to be monny hundred mile o’ watter in th’ valley. Hawsumever thay muster’d all th’ energy thay could, for thay wur determined to know th’ worst, so thay went to see if thay could find th’ oud weather-gazer, at hed proffesied th’ flooid; an’ after a good deal o’ runnin’ abaat, thay fan him peepin’ throo summat at shap of a tunnil, sum sed he wur lookin’ at mooin, others sed he wur lookin’ into futurity, hawsumever thay axt him to cum daan an’ look at th’ railway, an’ tell ’em whether th’ flooid wur baan to tak it away or not, but th’ saucy oud haand refused at first, for he sed at he wur flaid at sum on em wodn’t be able to stand th’ shock if he tell’d em th’ warst, so the oud lad sed,
If my advice yo want, poor things,
An’ cannot do withaat it,
Go arm yorseln to th’ teeth, he sed,
An’ doant be long abaat it;
Both rakes an’ powls an’ props an’ ropes
Yo cannot get ta sooin,
An’ take the Cowinheaders’ plan
When thay discovered th’ mooin.
Doant gape abaat, but when arm’d
Tak each a different rowt,
An’ let yor cry be ivery man,
Th’ poor railway’s up the spout.