back under a sailor hat. She gave an impression of cleanness, of precision and directness.

“Have you got some work?” she asked of her man. She ignored the rest. He tucked his tail between his legs.

“No, they haven’t got no work for me. They’ve just gave me a draw of bacca.”

He was a mean crawl of a man.

“An’ am I goin’ to wait for you out there on the lane all day?”

“You needn’t if you don’t like. You could go on.”

“Well, are you coming?” she asked contemptuously. He rose to his feet in a rickety fashion.

“You needn’t be in such a mighty hurry,”