“Then it’s th’ same,” concluded Billy. “I thowt it were.”
“But where…?”
“Amnot aw tellin’ yo’. Pass th’ ale. Yo’ll happen know th’ ‘Moorcock’?”
“Of course I know th’ ‘Moorcock.’ Everybody knows it—where the Bradburys live, and where, by all accounts, Eph. o’ Burnplatt’s lives now.”
“The same spot. Well, oo’s theer.”
“Miriam there!”
Billy nodded composedly.
“But how….“ I began.
“Aw dunnot know. But oo’s theer. Locked up i’ th’ barn. Aw went up theer to-day on th’ off chance. Aw ca’ed for summat to sup. Eph. were theer an’ th’ owd felly an’ Tom. They’d been fratchin’ abaat summat, an’ owd Bradbury an’ Tom seemed to ha’ their knife into Eph. abaat summat. Aw sat an’ aw supped an’ aw smoked an’ aw gay’ Eph. owt he wanted i’ th’ liquor line. Yo’ll owe me a bonny penny for what aw’n lain out i’ spirits on this job.”
“But Miriam, Miriam.”