‘Well, when aw fetched her fro' her faither, hoo said aw mun tak a flaar an' o', as aw coomd for one on th' neet as aw geet her. So aw took one o' th' owd felley's rose-trees, an' planted it under aar winder theer, and theer it's stood for nigh on forty year, come blow, come snow, come sun, come shade, an' the roses are still as fresh an' sweet as ever. An' so art thaa, owd lass,’ and Malachi got up and kissed into bloom the faded, yet healthy, cheek of Betty, his conquest of whom he had just narrated to Mr. Penrose, and whom he still so dearly loved.
VIII.
MR. PENROSE BRINGS HOME A BRIDE.
When Rehoboth heard of the coming marriage of Mr. Penrose many were its speculations on the woman he was taking for wife. Amos Entwistle said ‘he'd be bun for't that th' lass wouldn't be baat brass noather in her pocket nor in her face’; to which old Enoch's wife replied that ‘hoo'd need both i' Rehoboth, where they fed th' parson on scaplins (stone chippings), and teed his tung with deacons' resolutions.’
Milly wondered ‘if th' lass 'ud be pratty,’ and ‘what colour her een 'ud be’; while old Joseph declared ‘hoo'd be mighty high-minded, but that hoo were comin' to wheer hoo'd be takken daan a bit.’
The most philosophic judgment was that of Malachi o' th' Mount, who, turning on Amos one evening in the chapel yard, said: