Them  two  was  at  her — just  like  from  heaven
A  little  angel  took  and  given
To  them  two  divils  a  purpose  to  treat  her
Most  boos'ly  !  2     Aw,  the  little  craythur !
She  hadn'  no  life  with  them  from  the  fess ;  ^
And  the  mother  encouragin'  them  in  it — yes !
Encouragin' — for,  as  I'm  a  sinner,
Aw,  there  was  something  woke  a  spirit  in  her
At  last,  I  tell  ye.     Let  be  !  let  be  !
But  a  spirit  of  hate  and  misery —
A  spirit  that  crawled  in  her  soul,  and  spat —
God  save  our  souls  from  a  spirit  like  that !
Hard!  it  was  hard — ^very  hard  for  some,

^  That  one.         ^  Beastly = abominably.         •  First


THE  DOCTOR  405

But  I  tell  you  how  the  spirit  come.
A  week  or  two  after  Miss  Katty  was  bom,

There  was  a  letter,  you  know,  that  was  evident  for'n  ^ —

And  the  Docthor  from  home  ;  so  opens  it,

Bein'  curious.     And  what  was  there  writ,

Do  ye  think  now,  in  the  letter  there  ?

It  was  from  his  ould  sweetheart ;  aw  dear,  aw  dear !

It  was  though,  sure  enough  ;  aw,  'deed  !  ^

It  was  from  her,  the  very  screed.^

And  Sir  John  was  dead ;  and — was  he  the  same

As  ever?  and  willin^  to  change  her  name

Torectlyj  and  ofF'rin'  heart  and  hand —

The  talk  they  have,  you'll  understand.
And  the  money,  bless  ye,  and  the  proppity.
And  everythin' ;  but  that  wouldn'  be

Wrote  there  of  course.     The  gel  'd  know  better —

Aw,  a  modest,  lovin',  beautiful  letter !

And  maybe  there's  women  that  'd  'a  seen  the  thing.
