J. J. Bell

“ At last Frederick got up and gi'ed cook a poke o' peppermints he had bought in the town; and peppermints is aboot as scarce as peacocks' eggs nooadays. Cook near grat on his neck. They was like manna in the wilderness, she declared.
"Jemima," he says, "I've had a day off, so it's up to me to dae the dishes. Sit still and rest ye."
"Thank ye," says I, "but I prefer to dae ma bit."
"I'll dae the lot," says cook, "and you young folks can tak' it easy for a change. ”

“ Then ma mither's nerves and ma own stupid he'rt got better, and I foreseen that the time was comin' when I would ha'e to leave her again. I began to feel I could depend on ye to be kind to ma mither, and so I made up ma mind to tell ye everything—only ye wouldna listen. I was at several doctors the day, and I'm fit, as ye see. ”

“ The fact is, folk in boardin' hooses, even o' the best quality, never ken the risks they run.
It was a mercy I had naething in ma hand when the next shock cam'. The Captain and the Colonel and Mrs. Beetle was the last to rise, and on their way to the door the Colonel suddenly turned to Frederick at the sideboard and, without sayin' a word, shook his hand and clapped him on the shoulder, and then stottered oot afore Frederick was half through his salute.
"Much ado aboot naething, Jemima!" says Frederick, wi' a sort o' laugh, but red in the face. ”