Page:Doreen (C. J. Dennis, 1917).djvu/22

 It 'urt to see 'er shieldin' 'im as tho' I wus a plague. An' ain't 'e mine as much as 'ers? Yet, I seen, sort o' vague, The woman's way she looked at it, the picters that she 'ad Uv young Bill goin' to the pack, an' follerin' 'is dad. I tries me 'ardest to ixplain, an' made some fool ixcuse; But I'm marri'd to a woman, an'—Aw, wot's the flamin' use?

I tells 'er if we'd 'ave young Bill keep up 'is end at school 'E will 'ave to use 'is flippers; but I sez it like a fool. I sez it like I wus ashamed to 'ave 'im learn to fight, When all the time, down in me 'eart, I knoo that I wus right. She just gives me another look, an' goes in wiv the kid. An' me? I picks them vi'lits up, not knowin' wot I did.

I 'as them fool things in me 'and when I lobs in the 'ouse, An' makes bets wiv meself about the chances that she'll rouse. But 'er, she comes the calm an' cold. Think's I, "'Ere's where I fall Fer a forty-quid pianner, if I want to square it all.