"Then thou'st goin' for a sodger."
"Ay."
Mrs. Martha Pollard looked at him for a few seconds without speaking.
Evidently she found it difficult to find words to express her thoughts.
"Weel, Tom," she said presently, "I thought thee't got low eno' when thee got drinkin' and picked up wi' that peacock-bedecked Polly Powell; but I ne'er thought a bairn o' mine would sink as low as that. Wer't'a baan now?"
"I'm goin' to tell Polly," said Tom.
"Ay, tha mun be sent to Lancaster asylum," said Mrs. Pollard.
[1] The above incident actually took place in a Lancashire city at the beginning of the War.
CHAPTER III
Tom made his way to the Thorn and Thistle, but was informed that Polly would not be home until eleven o'clock. He therefore wandered about the town until that time, and again appeared at the public-house door. But it was not until twelve o'clock that Polly made her appearance.
"Anything the matter, Tom?" she asked.