quarter o' butter, and a couple o' chops he 'ad got in for 'is supper had
gorn; and then when he said 'e was glad she 'ad got 'er appetite back she
turned round and said that he grudged 'er the food she ate.

And no woman ever owned up as 'ow she was wrong; and the more you try and
prove it to 'em the louder they talk about something else. I know wot
I'm talking about because a woman made a mistake about me once, and
though she was proved to be in the wrong, and it was years ago, my missus
shakes her 'ead about it to this day.

It was about eight years arter I 'ad left off going to sea and took up
night-watching. A beautiful summer evening it was, and I was sitting by
the gate smoking a pipe till it should be time to light up, when I
noticed a woman who 'ad just passed turn back and stand staring at me.
I've 'ad that sort o' thing before, and I went on smoking and looking
straight in front of me. Fat middle-aged woman she was, wot 'ad lost her
good looks and found others. She stood there staring and staring, and by
and by she tries a little cough.

I got up very slow then, and, arter looking all round at the evening,
without seeing 'er, I was just going to step inside and shut the wicket,
when she came closer.

"Bill!" she ses, in a choking sort o' voice.

"Bill!"

I gave her a look that made her catch 'er breath, and I was just stepping
through the wicket, when she laid hold of my coat and tried to hold me
back.