A little gipsy lass

by Gordon Stables

'Ben what, then?'

'No, not Ben Watten, but Benjamin Thorley Metcalfe Evans Bradley; only they's all melted down to Ben aboard ship.'

'Have you ever been farther north, Benjamin Thor'——

'Oh don't, little missie. Ben's the 'andle they allers lifts I by. Yes, been to Archangel an' Iceland an' Spitzbergen 'arf a dozen times.'

'Were you always second-mate?'

'Lo'd no! Dog-boy fust, then slush-boy, then dirty-devil all over the ship, then stooard's boy, then doctor'——

'Doctor?'

'Ay, missie, wot cooke the 'orse, an' fries the panhaggledy, an' biles the spuds an' the dollop o' duff.'

'How very interesting!'

More silence.