Mrs. Gale sat and stared at her.
"Coom," she said, "tha moos'n' taake it saw 'ard, like."
Between the sobs Essy looked up with her shining eyes. She whispered.
"Will yo kape mae, Moother?"
"I sail 'ave t' kape yo. There's nawbody 'll keer mooch fer thot job but yore moother."
But Essy still wept. Once started on the way of weeping, she couldn't stop.
Then, all of a sudden, Mrs. Gale's face became distorted.
She got up and put her hand heavily on her daughter's shoulder.
"There, there, Assy, loove," she said. "Doan' tha taake on thot road.
It's doon, an' it caann't be oondoon."
She stood there in a heavy silence. Now and again she patted the heaving shoulder, marking time to Essy's sobs. Then she spoke.