“I thought, ye see,” he explained, “as that there silly Bob ’ud very like be up to some tricks—makin’ believe to appear to ye, or some such thing—so, thinks I to myself, I’ll just bide handy in porch and if he do try it on I’ll pounce out on him.”
“Oh,” said Martha, “why I don’t suppose he knows naught about nothing of the kind.”
“Ye didn’t tell him your grandma’s tale, then?” said Sam, with a note of incredulous delight in his voice.
“N—no,” said Martha—“I didn’t reckon ’twould interes’ him, d’ye see. ’Twas different wi’ you.”
And then Sam laughed long and loud.
“Martha,” he said at last, “I take back all as I said agen this here old custom—I can see as there be sense in it. Ah, a deal o’ sense in it. My sperret, d’ye see, was very anxious to come to ’ee, Martha—that anxious that it did take the rest o’ me along wi’ it. I shouldn’t wonder if the rest of the tale was to come true too—about gettin’ married soon arter, ye know.”
“P’r’aps I’ll have summat to say about that,” tittered Martha coyly.
“Ye can’t say nothin’ but the one thing,” returned Sam triumphantly. “’Twouldn’t be lucky!”
JOHNNY AT SHROTON FAIR.
Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Johnny’s so long at the Fair!