"She's been a right good sow to 'e."
"An' now 'e be nigh 'eart-broken 'long of these unnatural orders. For stuck ev'ry blessed pig 'as got to be should they Germans get anywheres within ten miles of us."
"I see 'im now as 'e was when 'e first got wind of it—fair struck all of a 'eap, 'e were. 'I ain't got no objection to burning ricks,' 'e says, 'for ricks ain't got 'uman ways to 'em, same as my old sow. But kill my old sow,' 'e says, 'that's asking of me more 'n I can do.'"
"'Tain't a question of asking, either. Them's our orders, set out in black and white."
"Somebody says that to George—and a cold-blooded word it seemed to me, considering 'is depth o' trouble."
"What did the old chap say to that?"
"'Orders?' 'e says; 'ain't this a free country? An' you come between me an' my old sow with orders!' 'e says."
"'Military law,' I says to 'im myself, 'makes 'avoc o' freedom—so it do. But with they Germans at your very gates,' I says, 'freedom ain't the same thing as a clean pair of 'eels. An' a pig's an awkward customer to drive in an 'urry,' I says."
"Ain't to be done—not really brisk like, any'ow."
"'E seed that, o' course?"