Page:Digger Smith (C.J. Dennis, 1918).djvu/92

 She don't want no prelimin'ries, this tart; She's broke away before they rung the bell; She's beat the gun, an' got a flyin' start. Smith makes a funny noise, an' I sez, " 'Ell!" An' gives 'em imitations uv the chase. But, as I went, I caught sight uv 'er face.

That's all I want to know. An', as I ran, I 'ears 'er cry, "My man! Man an' a 'arf ! Don't fool me with yer talk uv 'arf a man !". . . . An' then I 'ears ole Digger start to larf. It was a funny larf, so 'elp me bob: Fair in the middle uv it come a sob. . ..

I don't see Digger till the other night. "Well, 'Arf-a-man," I sez. " 'Ow goes it now?" "Yes, 'arf a man," sez 'e. "Yeh got it right; I can't change that, alone, not any'ow. But she is mendin' things." 'E starts to larf. "Some day," 'e sez, "she'll be the better 'arf."