We hadn't been lukkin' moor nor a minnit or two, when a man wi' a red
beeard coom runnin' daan th' hill an' stopt abaat ten yards throo whear
th' chaps wor laikin' at pitch an' toss, an' he started o' writin'
summat daan in a book.

"Bobbies!" a chap shaated aght, an i' hawf a minnit ther wor nubdy to be
seen, nobbut th' new comer, for ivvery one on 'em had hooked it as fast
as if th' owd chap wor after 'em.

Then th' feller sammed up th' coppers, an' coom'd reight to whear we
wor, an' climbed ovver th' wall. He wor laffin like owt. When he'd
getten on to th' side whear we wor, he luk'd a bit surprised to see us,
but he sed nowt--soa Sarah axd him if be wor a poleeceman, an' if he wor
baan to report 'em at th' Taans Hall?

"Net aw," he sed, "awm noa bobby awm not, aw nobbut did it to flay 'em."

"But yo gate ther brass," aw sed.

"For sewer aw did," says he, "aw mak a day's wage at this trade ivvery
Sundy, it's th' best payin' professhun aght--aw gate seventeen pence
this mornin' at Ringby, an ther's eighteen pence here, that's three bob
nobbut a penny. Last Sundy aw addled three an' ninepence, at Siddal an'
Whitegate. Ther soa flayed if onnybody starts o' writin', 'at they hook
it like a express train, for they think yor takkin ther names daan."

When he'd sed this he brust aght laffin agean, an' sed to me, "Dooant
yo' knaw me?"

"Noa," aw sed, "but aw seem to knaw yor voice."