Part 6 (1/2)

the dirty tiive 'n a doin' But 'tinter, ye know, and I fancy he didn't know hardly where to go We had soh, no mistake

”There used to be another ol' feller--a plue in Church Street; Ben Craent 'long with 'n as pluit the handles of his tools all over dirt, for he to take hold of when he come to use 'em Oldish ive 'n a lift any tioin' of 'n, at last”

I, for oin'” of these queer reminiscences They are like the snows of the past--like the snohich actually lay white in our valley while Bettesworth talked

As to his heartless treatment of this unhappy carpenter, those ould conde of men could have endured their miserable journeys, if they had ad labourers there is such peril in effeminacy that to yield to it is a kind of treason

Bettesworth had nothing but conte,” and shall be able to give another instance by-and-by

X

During this year 1901, until the lastto Bettesworth was recorded; it just suffices to show his life quietly passing on in co seasons

_February 1, 1901_--We have already had a glih it is only February, there colike, and Bettesworth's talkof February was clear and shi+ hard with frost, the air crisp, the trees hung with the dazzling drops into which the sunshi+ne had converted the ri white, but now and again there would colisten of e blue, as if the rass, although under it the ground was frozen, had a brilliancy of colour which certainly was no winter tint It suggested where, if one looked, one would find the green spear-points of crocuses and daffodils already inch-high out of the soil The spring, in fact, was in the air, and the earth was stirring with it

In Bettesworth's h the winter many hours which would otherwise have been lonely for hiarden had been cheered by the companionshi+p of a robin How often he re you mind to with 'n, but you mawn't handle 'im”! For the bird seemed to know him, and he used to call it his ” up the soil

And now on this gay ether, he said, ”Little Bob bin 'long with ain this mornin', hoppin' about just in front o' my shovel, and twiddlin' and talkin' to h of a young beech-tree at the edge of the grass And as we stood to admire, ”_There's_ a little chap!” he exclaimed exultantly Then he took up his shovel to resume work near the tree, and ”Little Bob” hopped down, everyto s I could not see what tinyas much, felt snubbed by Bettesworth's iot sharp eyes” Presently, however, the robin found a large centipede, and suddenly--it was gone alive and wriggling down the sood bellyful,”

said Bettesworth

At intervals Bob would pause, look straight at us, and ”twiddle” a little song in an undertone which, for all one could hear to the contrary, ht have come from some distance behind or beside us, and could only be identified as proceeding fro movements of his ruddy throat

”Sweet little birds, I calls 'e an epithet rare with hi,” he continued, ”wherever a man's at work there's sure to be a robin find him out _I_'ve noticed it often If I bin at work in the woods, a robin 'd come, or in the harvest-field, jest the same Hark at 'n twiddlin'! And by-'n-by when his crop's full he'll get up in a tree and _sing_”

The old man did a stroke or tith his shovel, and then: ”I don't hear no starlin's about 'Relse, don't ye mind last year they had a nest up in the shed?”

I hinted thatto do with the absence of the starlings, and Bettesworth's talk flitted easily to the new subject

”Ah, that young cat--_she_ wouldn't care” how oin' to be my cat” (the cat for his favour) ”Every mornin', as soon as the servant opens the door, she” (the cat) ”is out, prowlin' all round And she don't mind the cold; you see, she liked the snow--played with it Now, our old Tab, as soon as I be out o' my nest she's in it Very often she'll coet into the warot! But almost without a pause he went on, ”The postht word this mornin'

to all the pubs, tellin' 'em they was to close to-morrow” (Saturday, the day of Queen Victoria's funeral), ”out of respect to our Queen's memory 'T least, they're requested to--en't forced to But so they ought to show her respect Go where you will, you can't hear anybody with a word to say against her 'Tis to be hoped the new King 'll be as worthy of respect”

Again, without transition: ”How that little tree do grow!” He placed his hand on the ste lime ”Gettin' quite a body So-and-so tells o, and look what trees they be now! They terrible wanted to cut 'em dohen they made that alteration to the road down there, but Watson said he wouldn't have 'em moved for any money I likes a lime; 'tis such a bower”

So the pleasant chatter oozed out of hi With his robins and his bowers, he was in the most cheerful spirits At one ti down the lane on a bicycle, and had warned against trying to cross the strea of the mild weather had flooded; and of the doctor's thanks, since he disliked wading; and of Bettesworth's own suggestion, laughingly assented to, that the doctor's ”horse” was not partial to water

It was all so spontaneous, this chatter, so innocent of endeavour to get the effect it produced, that a quite incongruous subject was powerless to o, he had bespoken at the butcher's shop a bullock's head, and that when he went to get it on this sa early, because ”people was reg'lar runnin' after him for 'em” So early was he that the bullock had not been killed an hour, and he had to hile they skinned the head and ”took the eyes out,” Bettesworth no doubt looking on with interest And he had brought this thing hoht, ”and then to-oes, and that 'll make me some rare nice soup”

_March 1, 1901_--I a, but only a foretaste of it As yet the birds were not pairing, and before their day ca to Bettesworth, St Valentine's is the day when the birds begin to pair) there washas made when March comes in On the first afternoon of March I noticed Bettesworth's ”ain, ”twiddlin',” as usual; but I fancied and said that he looked larger than before, and Bettesworth suggested that perhaps he was living better--getting ht that the robin's crest seemed more feathery, and was told at once, ”That shows the time o' year Wonderful how ta his head, ”But he goes away courtin' at times He loses a lot o' time” (from his ith Bettesworth) ”Then he cos_ to me But he loses a lot o' time

I tells 'n I shall 'ave to 'ave done with 'n”