Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-15

rub his poor 'ead for him. and me fingers
would go over and over them ridges of his-Iike
over griddle, you might say.
1eS, mats how met him, sir And p was
sFateIu 10 me, In way of speaking e knew
had looked after him. like; saved him from he
ing sent to 'ospital E hated 'ospitals sir.
so then e got to taking me out to pub-oF
al evening; and now and then borrowing n
smiling OF me; and glad was to let him ave
IT, You see, sir, was only &c at the time. and
10 never had Teller, as you might saw
oICen used to wish had some one tn on o,It
wltn-seeing EN- arm-in harm in the park. So
When Bin took me out for a bit, I was proud
IKE; and got meself up to look tidy for him and
ali that. And when e wanted a shilling or t,po
gave 1t to him and gladly-because e never
WORKED sir; except when e had to-
On, e was regular toff with his MONEY
AND, as tell you, deep down in his cart e was
klno 70 me- sir The baby died almost before
was oorn-and what with one thing and an
other We had hard time You see sir 7 was
TOO weak to go out working for him. and e tooe
10 drinking 'eavy, after the baby died.
on, e was terrible fond of children, sir-vou
could tell that. And done the best could
Tor him, to make him Apply like AS soon as
1 could stand on me feet YOU might saw
went to washing doorsteps again and started
earning me bit of money regular. Only e used
70 beat me at times-when ed been drinking.
know e didn't mean it, sir. e was sorry
eaoacnes and his worrying over the baby and
ale was crosspatch, you might say and
raised his hand to me- sometimes
Or course, didn't do so well with people
when had black eye on me- They didn't like
the looks Of me, and said their door-steps wouId
do until next week-which was ONLY right aftcr
all; wasn't 1t, sir? But We got along somehow
ana managed to eat and all. Only we never
enjoyed ourselves like other couples. nor went
anywhere nor anything
Would you believe me- sir? never been to
the cinema in all my born days The only Mace
e ever took me to was the pub and T didn,t
IKE 10 go inside some of EN-; they was that bad
SIT. so l used to stand waiting for him out
Sioe' on the corner-except when it come to
rain hard. W
But was Apply with him, sir-quite 'appy.
The appiest days ever had And I like to
look back on them, and talk about ,em--,v,~..
I amt disturbing anybody, sir.
And then the war come and e Joined tina
army. The minute e knew his country wanted
MIN, e never esitated, sir. Oh e was a won.
oerIui man In every way Stepped right up, e
olo' ana took the shilling; and when come
ONE about 10 o'clock that night there e was.
sir, lying on the bed in his brand-new uniform.
Such picture, sir; real 'andsome e was.
l cried when e went away, sir couldn't
elp It, You see, e was all had in the world
you might say-and it made me Apply to look
after him and work to the bone for him. oh.
IT.
All men like to do that don't they, sir? To
show off, like And after all, e was me lawful
welded 'usband and had right to give me o
blow now and then-if e had mind to. I dare
say was a bit of a bother to him sometimes.
when couldn't look after him proper-being
tired and worn out from walking 'ome Nine
pence week, used to save, sir-by walking
'ome of an evening. And e used to get it
every penny Of it; and gladly. Only e didn't
realize-that was the trouble. oh, e could
spend his money like water, sir-if you know
what mean.
His regiment was one of the first to 10, sir
You see, e joined up so early. And in 1915 e
was in France, sir. I felt terrible lonely at
first; and used to lie awake at night-fearing
ed get killed
e wrote to me quite regular-In say that
for him. Sometimes it post card some-
times it was one of them green envelopes-un-
opened by censor, as they say. No nonsense
in EN-, sir: nothing silly, like. e was too much
of a man for that. Sometimes ed scold me be-
cause his socks was too small; other times 1t
would be the cakes I'd sent him had got hard
like Things like that, sir. I've got his letters,
every one of them-in a little box in me room
Three years and more sir-comng and going
and post cards and letters. 1t was bit ard
on me-when card. Six times e had come
on leave, sir; six times I'd waited all day in
Victoria Station for his train to come in.