“‘Jenny Medway,’ I says to her, ‘I’ll come to the bottom of this here tale if I do have to call Policeman Jackson in for to take ’ee to prison. Tell I the truth this minute, or I’ll run out an’ fetch en. It won’t be the first time as you’ve met that man, whoever he be. Own up, or I’ll call Jackson.’ “Well, she was real scared, an’ she ketched hold o’ my arm:-- “‘Oh don’t, ma’am, don’t do that!’ she says, ‘I’ll tell ’ee--I’ll tell ’ee. ’Twas the man what did come to the door----’ “‘You wicked, wicked wench!’ I says. ‘I d’ ’low ye’ve a-been meetin’ of en regular.’ “‘No, indeed, ma’am,’ she cries, ‘I never set eyes on en since that day, till yesterday, when I did meet en quite accidental-like--an’ he did offer to carry my basket for I, an’ he did put his hand in’s pocket an’ pull out this bit o’ ribbon--he’d a-been carryin’ it about hopin’ to meet I, he did say, for he did think it jist the same colour as my eyes.’” “Well! well! well!” exclaimed Mrs. Cross, clapping her hands together and shaking her head. “Lard now! dear to be sure! What nonsense-talk, weren’t it, ma’am?” “I did tell her so indeed,” returned Mrs. Chaffey, severely. “I did tell her plain what I thought of her--‘Courtin’ an’ carryin’ on wi’ a tramp on the road!’ I says. “‘He bain’t a tramp,’ she cries, quite in a temper, if you please. ‘He’s an honest, respectable young man. He’ve a-got good work now, an’ he be a-lookin’ for to settle.’” “Ah!” put in the irrepressible Mrs. Cross. “He was lookin’ out for a wife.” Once more Mrs. Chaffey quelled her with a glance and proceeded:-- “‘An’ be he wantin’ you to settle wi’ en?’ I axed the maid straight-out. “She hangs her head, an’ begins a-playin’ wi’ the buttons of her bodice. “‘He did say so,’ she says, very low; ‘he did ax I to walk wi’ en an’ think it over--he be gettin’ good wage,’ she says, lookin’ up at me. ‘He says he’ll do all what he can for me--I think I could like en very well--I d’ ’low he be a good man.’” Mrs. Cross clicked her tongue and shook her head with an air of disapproval. “Yes, indeed, my dear,” cried Mrs. Chaffey warmly, “that was my own opinion. My dooty did stare I in the face.” “‘Put that there notion out of your head, Jenny,’ I says to her, very firm, ‘for I’ll never hear on’t--never!’ I says. ‘If you was a-thinkin’ o’ meetin’ that idle good-for-nothin’ fellow this mornin’, you may give up the notion. Take off your hat,’ I says, ‘an’ put by that jacket of yours. Outside this house you don’t set foot this day. You bide at home,’ I says.” Mrs. Cross looked dubious at first, but catching the other’s severe eye, shook her head once more in an impersonal way, and folded her arms with an appearance of great unconcern. “The way that maid did go on,” pursued Mrs. Chaffey, “was scandalous, quite scandalous, I do assure ’ee. She cried an’ sobbed, and acskally tried for to dodge round to the door, but I were too quick for her. I nipped out first, and turned the key in the lock.