'The time will
come when that there bird's pretty little ways will amuse her, and last
of all it'll make her smile, and you'll get the benefit of that,' he
says. 'And you'll remember the bird was giv' to you by a man named
Jones - that's my name, Jones - walking from Newcastle to Dorchester,
looking for work. A poor man, you'll say, down on his luck, but not one
of the common sort, not a greedy, selfish man, but a man that's always
trying to do something to make others happy,' he says.
"And after that, he said, 'Good-bye,' without a smile, and walked off.
"And there at the door I stood, I don't know how long, looking after
him going down the road. Then I laughed; I don't know that I ever
laughed so much in my life, and at last I had to sit down on the bricks
to go on laughing more comfortably, until the missus came and arst me,
sarcastic-like, if I'd got the high-strikes, and if she'd better get a
bucket of water to throw over me.
"I says, 'No, I don't want no water. Just let me have my laugh out and
then it'll be all right.' Well, I don't see nothing to laugh at,' she
says. 'And I s'pose you thought you giv' him a penny.
