The lovers lingered long at the gate, and bade each other good-bye a hundred times.
"I'll never look at any one else again, Jerry dear," sobbed Mary Ann.
"And I'll be as true as steel, s' help me, I will," replied the ardent lover.
The girl saw him to the end of the lane, and then bade him good-bye, upon which he vowed he must see her safely back again. This little amusement they repeated a great many times, until the cook came out, with her apron over her head, and declared "they were both fools; and if Mary Ann didn't come in, she would lock her out." This announcement brought them to their senses; so, resigning his love to the care of her sympathetic fellow-servant, he, with something very much like a groan, tore himself away.
One of the housemaids lingered upon the stairs to hear how the lovers parted, and when the cook gave her the particulars, she exclaimed "Poor Mary Ann! poor Jerry! especially poor Mary Ann!" And in this sentiment, peculiar as it is, we cordially agree.
