ou will, thet's 'ow I met my Sherrie. A
magic man 'e was, for 'e 'ad my ticket taken, an' never seemed
surprised. Ten days leave 'e 'ad, an' we spent it at an inn in a village
on a moor, jest a mile out o' sound of the sea. The moor an' the sea,
touchin' each other. ... Oh Gawd!... The sea was like my sky at night
come nearer--come near enough to know better, like. In between the moor
an' the sea there was the beach--it looked like a blessed boundary road
between two countries, an' it led away to where you couldn't see nothing
more except a little white town, sort of built 'igh upon a mist, more
like a star.... Oh Gawd!...

"Anyway, Cuffbut, thet was me charnce, an' thet's 'ow I come to know 'ow
my debt was goin' to be paid. Sherrie understood all thet. 'E was a
magic man, 'e was. At least, 'e was mostly magic, but some of 'im was
nothin' but a fool when all's said an' done--like any other man. I
couldn't 'ave done with an all-magic bloke. Ow, 'e was a fool.... All
the things 'e might 'ave bin able to do, like polishin' 'is equipment,
or findin' 'is clean socks, 'e use to forever be askin' me to do. I
loved doin' it. But all the things 'e couldn't do at all, like drawin'
me likeness, or cuttin' out a blouse for me, 'e was forever tryin' to
do."

She spoke of Sherrie as a naturalist would speak of a new animal,
gradually finding out the pretty and amusing ways of the creature.

"I called 'im Sherrie because thet's what 'e called me. A French word it
was, 'e ses, meaning 'dearie,' as it were. 'E was a reel gent, was
Sherrie. I as't 'im once why 'e took up with a woman like me, instead of
with a reel young lady. 'E ses as 'ow 'e'd never met before anybody 'oo
seed themselves from outside an' yet was fairly honest. I know what 'e
meant, for I was always more two people than one, an' I watch meself
sometimes as if I was a play. I wouldn't be tellin' you this story,
else. Well, dearie, Elbert was always in an' out, an' always a-hollerin'
an' a-laughin' an' a-playin' 'is game. 'E stayed with us all them ten
days, an' 'e come with me to Victoria, to see Sherrie off to France.
It's Sherrie's allotted money what I fetch every week. But I won't touch
it, I puts it away for Elbert. I don't want to owe nothin' to nobody,
for I'm payin' sich a big debt. Elbert, when 'e comes back to me, 'e's
going to be my payment to the world, an' it's got to be good money. For
Elbert left me after Sherrie went. 'E said as 'ow 'e was going 'ome, a