Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1866-03-08
sGPolly, my lass, I'm a-going up to Lon

rough Jacket making up a bundle in a clean
blue handkerchief and then shown his stick
through the knot and sticking it over his
shoulder, and then stuffing his hands in his
pockets, and taking the read uppards,
1histlin' like a blackbird. No it meant
something else. 1t meant breaking up
tidy little house as two young folks-com-
mon people, in course-had been saving
up for years, to make snug; it meant half
breaking poor simple lass's heart to part
with this little thing and that little thing;
tearing up the nest that took solong a-build-
ing, and was allus SO snug arter cold days
work / looked at the clean little winders,
and then at the bright kettle on the shiny
black hob, and then at the VERY small fire
as there was, and then fust at one thing,
and then at another, all so clean and neat
and homely, and all showing how proud my
lass was of em all, and then [ thought
little more of what going up to London
really did mean, and | suppose it must have
BEEN through feeling low and faint and
poorly, and I'm almost ashamed to tell 1t,
for Pm such big strong chap; but truth s
truth.
Well somehow blind seemed to come
over my eyes, and my head went down upon
nv knees, sand | cried like school-boy. But
it went off, for my lass was kneeling aside
me in minute, and got my thick old head
upon her shoulder, and began a-doing all
she could to make believe it was all right,
and she would MT mind bit but we'd get
on wonderful well up there; and so we
talked it over for long enough, while she
made believe to be SO cheerful, and knelt at
my side, a-ciphering away, -a-puttlng down
naught for herself, and a-carrylng don't
know how much for me,-till l glowed up.
under the discovery that whether work was
plenty, or whether work was slack, l, Bill
Stock-christened William-Was rich IN my
good wife.
That was something like thought, that
was, and seemed to stiffen me up, and put
bone and muscle into q fellow till he felt
strong as a lion; SO we set to talking over
the arrangements; and two days arter, Polly
and was in a lodging in London.
Mex morning | was up at five, and made
myself smart; not fine, but clean, and look
ing as if [ war MT afraid of work; and
finds my way to one O. the big workshops,
where the bell was a-ringing for six o'clock,
and the men was a-scufling in; while chap
with a book was ON the lookout to time the
late ones, for stopping on payday out of
their ages,-which is but fair, yer know,
for if two hundred men lost quarter Of an
hour apiece in a week, it would come to
something stiff in a year. Well, there was
couple more chaps like me standing at the
gate, come to see if they could get took on !;
and one of 'em slips in, and comes out again
directly a-swearing and growing like any
thing, and then t. other goes in, and he
comes out a-sEearing too, and then feels
my heart 20 sinking down ever so low. So
l says to the fust,-
'sAny chance of a job 2" says
eco to =" somewhere, he says, cutting
up rough so | asks t other one
'Any chance of job?" I says.
"Not q ha' porth," he says, turning his
back, and going off with the fust one; and
| must say as they looked pretty pair of
blacks.
So I stood there for quite five minutes
wondering what to do; whether / should go
in and ask for myself: or go and try some
where else. I did MT like to try, arter
seeing two men refused. All at once tall
sharp-eyed man comes out of a side place
and looks at me quite fierce. s'Now, my
man, he says, ''what's your business?
What do you want ?'
Il Job, sir, says ].
'sThen why did MT you come in and
ask?" he says.
g Saw two turned back I says.
go, we don't want such as them here"
he says, s'but there's plenty of work for
men who mean it"; and then he looks
through me almost. 81 suppose you do
mean it, eh ?"
''Give us hold of a trowel,' says I, spit
ting in both hands.
&c Bricklayer ?" says he, smiling.
"Right," says I.
''From the country?" says he.
eyes, says l.
''Work slack there? % says he.
"Awful," says I.
"You'l do,' says he. "Here, Jones,
put this fellow in number four lot
If you'll believe me, could have taken
hold of him and Rugged him but did MT,
for KEEP it for Polly.
Well,-I wonder how many times I've
said well, since 1 begun IL was in work
now, and | meant to keep it. Didn't
make the bricks and mortar fly My hod
man did his days work that day, if he
never did it afore. Then some of the men
began to take it up, and got to chatting
one says there'd soon be no work left; and
another says, I'd better have couple of
Paddles to keep me going, one for bricks,
and another for mortar; while one fellow
makes hisself precious unpleasant, by keep
ing on going "puff. puff puff !" like
steam ingin', because worked so fast. But
I let them chaff as long as they liked and
bime-by I comes to be working alongside of
my steam GIN friend, and jest as he'd
been going it little extra, l says to him
quietly
ssEver been out o. work, matey? 2"
At e.. !,
"'Cause if ever you are, and come down
VERY close to ground, you'll be as glad to
handle the trowel again as / am" He did
MT puff any more that day, not as herd.
London work was something fresh to me.
I used to think that I'd been about some
tidy buildings down our way, but what was
the tidiest on 'em to the London jobs l was
put on Jobs where the scatfolding must
have cost hundreds upon hundreds of pounds
more than the house, land, and everything
else put together, Of the biggest place had
ever worked upon. I used, too, to think
was pretty strong in the head; but l soon
began to sing small ere,-specially when
] had been up about week and was put on
at big hotel. Right up so high that one
turned quite creepy, and used To get think
ing of what would be the consequences If
sharp puff of wind come and upset ones
balance I could never have believed,
neither, that such Jacobs Ladder of scat
old-poles could have been built up to stand
without crushing and swapping those at the
bottom like so many reeds or tobacco-pipes;
but / suppose them as builds them knows
best what should be done, and what they III
bear. But though did not like it much, |
took good care not to mention it 10 my lass,
l II 4 4
day if l had told her.
Rv darroae T oof Ia atand # all nretty