"So he lay for up ten minnits, an' then he staggered up 'pon hes feet
an' sneaked out o' them peas like a chuck-sheep dog, an' the
repent'nce a-tricklin' out 'n ivery pore. He passed me by that close
I cou'd ha' knacked 'n over wi' a stick, but he didn' see me more'n
ef I'd a'been a pisky-man. [11] All hes notiss, I reckon, were for
that gashly eye; an' he looked back ivery now and agen, like as ef
he'd say, 'I be but worms; an', wuss nor that, I've a-been a
scoffin', lyin', Sabbath-breakin' ould worms; but do 'ee let me off
this wance, an' I'll strive an' wrastle,' he seemed to say, 'an' do
purty well all a rook can to be gathered to the fold.' An' wi' that
he slinks over th' hedge an' out o' sight.
"Well, sir, I didn' see 'n agen nex' day, nor for many days arter;
but on Sunday-week, as et mou't be, i' the mornin' I'd a-took French
lave an' absented mysel' from Meetin' House, an' were quietly smokin'
my pipe up in the town-place, [12] when I hears a chitterin' an' a
chatterin' like as 'twere a little way off; an' lookin' down t'wards
the twenty-acred field, I seed 'twere black wi' rooks--fairly black,
sir--black as the top o' your hat. Thinks I, 'I reckon here's some
new caper,' an' I loafes down to see the fun.
"I stales down the lane, an' looks over the gate, an' when I takes
in, at las', what 'tes all about, my!--you mou't ha' knacked me down
wi' a feather! 'Twas a prayer-meetin' them rooks was a-holdin', sir,
as I'm a senner.
Pages:
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136