29
sit a bit an’ then we’ll be takin’ the road home to Daa an’ the rest. [To Mrs. Fayle]: You’ll be all right now, Mammy, an’ you’ll be takin’ ress these coul nights, sittin’ by the fire with your bit of knittin’, an Daa with his pipe on the other side, all comfortable.
Kirry: It’s like Jem will be stoppin’ home now?
Mrs. F.: Yes, yes; I hope well he will, for Daa an’ me is gettin’ up in years now, an’ he will be able to take the mill off our hands. You’ll be fine an’ glad to settle down, wont you, Jem boy?
Jem: I will so. But not just yet Mammy, for there’s work to be done first, an’ there’s the boys out yonder callin’ for help to do it. An’ there's Mothers an’ Sweethearts waitin’ for them to come home, too,–the way you an’ Lizzie have been waitin’ for me. [Looking round.] Where is my girl now? [drawing Lizzie forward.] I’ll tell you what we’ll do Mammy. Lizzie an’ me will get married at once now, an’ then you’ll be havin’ your home together, an’ you’ll keep each other in heart talkin’ of the boy that came back when he was lost, an’ will come back with other Mother’s boys when the war is over.
Mrs. F.: Well, well boy! I’ve got you safe now for a bit anyway, an’ if it’s your duty will be callin’ you away again, it was for to do your duty that I rared you, so I’m not losin’ heart, no, no! An’ as for Lizzie here, if I was to walk the world over–from the Calf to the Point of Ayre–I would not find a sweeter nor a more faithfuller daughter than the girl my Jem has chose for to be his wife.
☙
