Page:Digger Smith (C.J. Dennis, 1918).djvu/95



WONDERED wot was doin'. First I seen Ole Missus Flood wave signals to Doreen. I'm in the paddick slashin' down some ferns; She's comin' up the road; an' if she turns An 'andspring I won't be su'prised a bit, The way she's caperin', an' goin' it.

She yells out some remark when she gets near, Which I don't catch, I'm too fur off to 'ear. An' then Doreen comes prancin' to our door, An' Missus Flood she sprints, an' yells some more; My wife runs to the gate an' waves 'er arms. . . . But I lays low; I'm used to these alarms.

A marri'd bloke, in time, 'e learns a bit; An' 'e ain't over keen to throw a fit Each time the women calls the fire-reel out. It's jist a trifle 'e'll know all about When things get normal. That's a point I learn; So I saws wood, an' keeps on cuttin' fern.