"Then wud 'ee mind a-hofferin' me a taste out o' your
pannikin? an' I'll make b'lieve to say 'Norronany' count.' Amazin' 'ot
t' night," he added, tilting back on his heels, and then dipping forward
with a vague smile.
Uncle Issy did as he was required, and the henpecked one played his part
of the comedy with elaborate slyness. "I don't like that strange
chap," he announced, irrelevantly.
"Nor I nuther," agreed Elias Sweetland, "tho' to be sure, I've a-kept my
eye 'pon en, an' the wonders he accomplishes in an old pair o'
Tresidder's high-lows must be seen to be believed. But that's no call
for Ruby's dancin' wi' he a'most so much as wi' her proper man."
"The gel's takin' her fling afore wedlock. I heard Sarah Ann Nanjulian,
just now, sayin' she ought to be clawed."
"A jealous woman is a scourge shaken to an' fro," said Old Zeb;
"but I've a mind, friends, to strike up 'Randy my dandy,' for that son
o' mine is lookin' blacker than the horned man, an' may be 'twill
comfort 'en to dance afore the public eye; for there's none can take his
wind in a hornpipe."
In fact, it was high time that somebody comforted Young Zeb, for his
heart was hot. He had brought home the chest of drawers in his cart,
and spent an hour fixing on the best position for it in the bedroom,
before dressing for the dance.
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