“She’ll be drunk in bed, an’ she’ll be burned to death!” cried Tommy. “Then we’ll mizzle!”
“But it would hurt them both very badly, Tommy!” said Clare, as if unfolding the reality of the thing to a foolish child.
“Well! all right! the worse the better! Ain’t they hurt us?” rejoined Tommy.
“That’s how we know it’s not nice!” answered Clare. “If they set it a going, we ain’t to keep it a going!”
“Then they’ll be at it for ever,” cried Tommy, “an’ I’m sick of it! I’ll kill granny! I swear I will, if I’m hanged for it! She’s said a hundred times she’d pull my legs when I was hanged; but she won’t be at the hanging!”
“Why shouldn’t you run for it first?” said Clare. “Then they wouldn’t want to hang you!”
“Then I shouldn’t have nobody!” replied Tommy, whimpering.
“I should have thought Nobody was as good as granny!” said Clare.
“A big bilin’ better!” answered Tommy bitterly. “I wasn’t meanin’ granny—nor yet stumpin’ Simpson.”
“I don’t know what you’re driving at,” said Clare. Tommy burst into tears.