I knoo 'is question was jist kid.
'E'd met this girl; I know 'e did.
'E knoo Jim Flood an' 'er was booked
For double when the 'Un was cooked.
But, seein' 'er, it used to start
'Im thinkin' uv another tart.
"Oh, 'er?" sez I. "She is a pearl.
I've 'eard she used to be Jim's girl;
But she was jist a child when Jim
Got out. She 'as forgotten 'im."
I knows jist wot was in 'is mind,
An' sez, "Wade in, if you're inclined."
'E give me sich a narsty look
I thought 'e meant to answer crook;
But, "I ain't out for jokes," sez 'e
"Yeh needn't sling that stuff to me.
I only was jist thinkin'—p'r'aps . . . .
There's some," 'e sez, "that sticks to chaps.
"Some girls," sez 'e, "keeps true to chaps,
An' wed 'em when they've done with scraps,
An' come 'ome whole. Yeh don't ixpec'
No tart to tie up to a wreck?
Besides," 'e sez. . . . "Well, any'ow,
That girl's all right; I know it now.
