Page:Digger Smith (C.J. Dennis, 1918).djvu/43



CALLS me Digger; that's 'ow 'e begins. 'E sez 'e's only 'arf a man; an' grins. Judged be 'is nerve, I'd say 'e was worth two Uv me an' you. Then 'e digs 'arf a fag out uv 'is vest, Borrers me matches, an' I gives 'im best.

The first I 'eard about it Poole told me. "There is a bloke called Smith at Flood's," sez 'e; Come there this mornin', sez 'e's come to stay, An' won't go 'way. Sez 'e was sent there be a pal named Flood; An' talks uv contracts sealed with Flanders mud.

"No matter wot they say, 'e only grins," Sez Poole. "'E's rather wobbly on 'is pins. Seems like a soldier bloke. An' Peter Begg 'E sez one leg Works be machinery, but I dunno. I only know 'e's there an' 'e won't go.