CHAPTER VI.
"Now fifty shwort years ha'e flown owre us,
Sin' first we fell in at the fair,
I've monie a teyme thowt, wi' new pleasure,
Nae weyfe cud wi' Aggy compare;
Tho' thy nwose has gi'en way to-the wrinkle.
At changes we munna complain;
They're rich whea in age are leet hearted,
An' mourn nit for days that are geane."
The Days that are geane.
"We us'd to go to bed at dark,
And ruse agean at four or five;
The mworn's the only teyme for wark,
If fwok are hilthy and wou'd thrive.
Now we git up—nay, God kens when!
And nuin's owre suin for us to deyne;
I's hungry or the pot's half boiled,
And wish for teymes leyke auld lang seyne."
Lang Seyne.
At length the Sandboys reached the Metropolis, without any further
misadventure than being informed, on their arrival, that there was not
a bed to be had within five miles for love or money.
On reaching the Bull and Mouth, to their great astonishment they found a large placard exhibited, inscribed with the following terrible announcement—
"The beds here are quite full."
Mr. Sandboys, however, was not to be deterred; and, entering the establishment, he sought for some one whose face he might remember having seen on his previous visit. The head waiter no sooner entered the coffee-room in answer to his summons, than he recognised the face of the old attendant, and besought him to recommend him to some place where he might obtain a bed for a night or two at the least.
The only place that the waiter knew, as promising the remotest chance of accommodation, was at the residence of a lady who, he was informed, had been recently extending the conveniences of her establishment; and then, handing to Mr. Sandboys the lodging-housekeeper's address, he whisked his napkin under his arm, and, pulling his front hair, departed with all the elegance of a head-waiter at an old-fashioned establishment.
Arrived at the residence of the lady indicated by the gentleman who superintended the supply of provisions to the inmates of the Bull and Mouth, Mr. and Mrs. Sandboys were asked to step into the passage (the lady apologizing for the parlours being both full), and there Mrs. Fokesell, whose husband, she was happy to say, was at sea, informed them, to their great horror, that she had only one hammock left unoccupied; and if the lady and gentleman thought they could make
