Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 2, 1891.djvu/462

406 So a dug 'em up, 'n' put 'em by th' au'd mun.

An' by-'n'-by th' young chap coom back, an' ca'alled fur 's dinner.

"Wheer's th' childer?" says he.

"Ooh, gath'rin' berries!" says she.

"Berries i' spring?" says he; an' kep on wi' 's eatin'.

But when noight coom an' tha wornt ho'am:

"Wheer's th' childer?" says he,

"Gone a fishin'," says she.

" Ay," says he, n' th' babby, too?"

An' coom th' mornin', a shuk th' gal oop sudden, an' bawled in 's earn :

"Wheer's th' ?"

"Ooh!" says she 'n a hurry, "flown awa'ay, th' childer hev!"

"Tha hev?" says he. "Then thou'll can goo arter 'm!" An' a oop wi' th' axe 'n' chopped her i' pieces 'n' shuv th' bits unner th' bed.

Wal, by-'n'-by, th' childer coom flyin' back, an' keck't aba'out fur th' mother, but tha seed nowt.

"Wheer's mother?" tha said to th' chap.

"Gone to buy bacon," says he, feelin' oneasy.

"Bacon?" says tha; "an' wi' flitches hangin' ready?"

'N' presently tha comes age'an, 'n' says:

"Wheer's mother na'ow?"

"Gone to seek thou," says a, shakin' unner th' clo'es.

"Ay?" says tha, "an' we here!"

An' fore a cud get oot o' bed tha coom ahl ra ound un, an' pointed at un wi' 's fingers:

"Wheer's mother ?"

"Ooh!" a squealed, "unner th' bed!" An' a put 's head unner th' blunket.

Tha childer pulled oot th' bits, an' fell to weepin' an' wailin' as tha pieced un togither. An' th' chap, a want fur to crep to th' door 'n' get awa'ay, but tha cot un, an' took th' axe 'n' chopped un oop loike th' gal, an' lef un lyin' whiles tha want awa'ay grattin'.