I thought my perhaps city rig or manner embarrassed him, so I stuck my hands in my pockets, spat, and said, so as to set him at his ease: "It's blanky hot to-day. I don't know how you blanky blanks stand such blank weather. It's blanky well blank enough to roast a crimson carnal bullock, ain't it?" Then I took out a cake of tobacco, bit off a quarter, and pretended to chew. He replied:
"My oath!"
The conversation flagged here. But presently, to my great surprise, he came to the rescue with:
"He finished me, you know?"
"Finished? How? Who?"
He looked down towards the river, thought (if he did think) and said: "Finished me edyercation, yer know!"
"Oh! you mean Mr. B.?"
"My oath!—he finished me first-rate."
"He turned out many good scholars, didn't he?"
"My oath! I'm thinkin' about going down to the training school!"