"Well, after a lot of grumbling, she went again, then came back and says the man won't go away till he seen me, as it's very important. 'Something about a bird,' she says.
"'A bird!' I says, 'what d'you mean by a bird?'
"'A rook!' she says.
"'A rook!' says I. 'Is he a madman, or what?'
"'He's a man at the door,' she says, 'an' he won't go away till he sees you, so you'd better git up and see him.'
"'All right, old woman,' I says, 'I'll git up as you say I must, and
I'll smash him. Get me something to put on,' I says.
"'No,' she says, 'don't smash him'; and she give me something to put on, weskit and trousers, so I put on the weskit and got one foot in a slipper, and went out to him with the trousers in my hand. And there he was at the door, sure enough, a tramp!
"'Now, my man,' says I, very severe-like, 'what's this something important you've got me out of bed at four of the morning for? Is it the end of the world, or what?'
"He looked at me quite calm and said it was something important but not that—not the end of the world. 'I'm sorry to disturb you,' he says, 'but women don't understand things properly,' he says, 'an' I always think it best to speak to a man.'
"'That's all very well,' I says, 'but how long do you intend to keep me here with nothing but this on?'