Rudyard Kipling

“ She 'adn't been gone ten minutes 'fore me old 'eddick took off quick as bein' kicked. So I went about my work. Prasin'ly, Sophy comes back, an' creeps into my chair quiet as a mouse. 'Er eyes was deep in 'er 'ead an' 'er face all drawed. I asked 'er what 'ad 'appened. "Nothin'," she says. "On'y I've got it now." "Got what?" I says. "Your 'eddick," she says, all hoarse an' sticky-tipped. "I've took it on me." "Nonsense," I says, "it went of itself when you was out. Lay still an' I'll make ye a cup o' tea." "'Twon't do no good," she says, "till your time's up. 'Ow long do your 'eddicks last?" ”

“ Fettley.
'You know, Liz, there wasn't no cheap-dog pride to folk, those days, no more than there was cinemas nor whisk-drives. Man or woman 'ud lay hold o' any job that promised a shillin' to the backside of it, didn't they? I was all peaked up after Lunnon, an' I thought the fresh airs 'ud serve me. So I took on at Smalldene, obligin' with a hand at the early potato-liftin, stubbin' hens, an' such-like. ”

“ Fettley commented. 'It must rage an' rugg till it tortures itself quiet on ye; an' then-then there's na'un left.'
'I got enough lef' to last me all my days on earth. It come about through our charwoman's fiddle girl-Sophy Ellis was 'er name-all eyes an' elbers an' hunger. I used to give 'er vittles. Otherwhiles, I took no special notice of 'er, an' a sight less, o' course, when me trouble about 'Arry was on me. But-you know how fiddle maids first feel it sometimes-she come to be crazy-fond o' me, pawin' an' cuddlin' all whiles ”

“ Ellis an' Sophy was runnin' in an' out soon's I was back, an' 'twixt us we cleaned de house again top-to-bottom. There's allus a hand's turn more to do in every house. An' that's 'ow 'twas with me that autumn an' winter, in Lunnon.'
'Then na'un hap-overtook ye for your doin's?'
Mrs. Ashcroft smiled. 'No. Not then. 'Long in November I sent Bessie ten shillin's.'
'You was allus free-'anded,' Mrs. Fettley interrupted.
'An' I got what I paid for, with the rest o' the news. She said the hoppin' 'ad set 'im up wonderful. 'E'd 'ad six weeks of it, and now 'e was back again carterin' at Smalldene. ”

“ No odds to me 'ow it 'ad 'appened-'slong's it 'ad. But I dunno as my ten shillin's eased me much. 'Arry bein' dead, like, 'e'd ha' been mine, till Judgment. 'Arry bein' alive, 'e'd like as not pick up with some woman middlin' quick. I raged over that. Come spring, I 'ad somethin' else to rage for. I'd growed a nasty little weepin' boil, like, on me shin, just above the boot-top, that wouldn't heal no shape. It made me sick to look at it, for I'm clean-fleshed by nature. Chop me all over with a spade, an' I'd heal like turf. Then Mrs. Marshall she set 'er own doctor at me. ”

“ But if I don't set eyes on ye 'fore next hoppin', this'll be good-bye, Liz.'
'Dunno as I'll be able to manage by then-not 'thout I have a liddle dog to lead me. For de chillern, dey won't be troubled, an'-O Gra'! I'm blindin' up-I'm blindin' up!'
'Oh, dat was why you didn't more'n finger with your quilt-patches all this while! I was wonderin'...But the pain do count, don't ye think, Liz? The pain do count to keep 'Arry where I want 'im. ”

“ I was settin' by the fire, me apern over me head, halfmad with the 'eddick, when she slips in. I reckon I was middlin' short with 'er. "Lor'!" she says. "Is that all? I'll take it off you in two-twos!" I told her not to lay a finger on me, for I thought she'd want to stroke my forehead; an'-I ain't that make. "I won't tech ye," she says, an' slips out again. ”

“ Then he was took with a seizure-like; an' laid stone-still for days. Then 'e propped 'imself up abed an' says: "You pray no man'll ever deal with you like you've dealed with some." "An' you?" I says, for you know, Liz, what a rover 'e was. "It cuts both ways," says 'e, "but I'm death-wise, an' I can see what's comin' to you." He died a-Sunday an' was buried a-Thursday...An' yet I'd set a heap by him-one time or- did I ever?'
'You never told me that before,' Mrs. Fettley ventured.
'I'm payin' ye for what ye told me just now. Him bein' dead, I wrote up, sayin' I was free for good, to that Mrs. ”

“ Mrs. Ashcroft nodded. 'An' after that, we two made it up 'twixt us so's 'e could come to Lunnon for a job in a liv'rystable not far from me. 'E got it. I'tended to that. There wadn't no talk nowhere. His own mother never suspicioned how 'twas. He just slipped up to Lunnon, an' there we abode that winter, not 'alf a mile 'tother from each.'
'Ye paid 'is fare an' all, though'; Mrs. Fettley spoke convincedly. ”

“ Fettley, reaching for the wrist again, and this time Mrs. Ashcroft permitted it.
'Yit 'twas a comfort to know I could try this for 'im. So I went an' I paid the green-grocer's bill, an' put 'is receipt in me hand-bag, an' then I stepped round to Mrs. Ellis-our char-an' got the 'ouse-keys an' opened the 'ouse. First, I made me bed to come back to (God's Own Name! Me bed to lie upon!) . Nex' I made me a cup o' tea an' sat down in the kitchen thinkin', till 'long towards dusk. Terrible close, 'twas. ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”

“ An', next after that-in May 'twas-I suffered the summer out in Lunnon. 'Twas hot an' windy for weeks, an' the streets stinkin' o' dried 'orsedung blowin' from side to side an' lyin' level with the kerb. We don't get that nowadays. I 'ad my 'ol'day just before hoppin', an' come down 'ere to stay with Bessie again. She noticed I'd lost flesh, an' was all poochy under the eyes.'
'Did ye see 'Arry'
Mrs. Ashcroft nodded. 'The fourth-no, the fifth day. Wednesday 'twas. I knowed 'e was workin' at Smalldene again. I asked 'is mother in the street, bold as brass. ”