v Eden, it knows noa decay.

Sin' then it has lived on, while th' ages
Has rowled on wi' uniform flow,
As young, an as fresh, as when sages
Towd ther sweethearts it cent'ries ago--
An' chaps 'll be tellin th' story,
Th' breet, owd, owd story ov love,
When time, an' love, fade inter th' glory
'At streams thro' th' manshuns above.

Jim Nation's Fish-shop.

Sammywell Grimes an his wife, Mally, wor set anent th' foir,--Sammywell
seemingly varry mich interested ith' newspaper, an Mally, showin signs
ov impatience, wor darnin stockins. All wor silent except for th' tickin
oth' clock, wi nah an then a long-drawn-aght sigh throo Mally an an
occasional grunt throo Grimes. At last Mally couldn't stand it onny
longer, an shoo pitched th' stockins on th' table an sed,--

"Dost know, its just cloise on an haar an a hawf sin tha set daan wi
that paper, an tha's nivver oppened thi lips to me durin that time? Aw
remember when things wor different. Ther wor a time when tha tuk a
delight i' tellin me all th' news, but latterly tha tells me nowt, an if
it worn't for Hepsabah an some oth' naybors aw shouldn't know whether
th' world wor gooin on as usual, or it had come to an end."

"Why, lass,--th' fact oth' matter is ther's nowt to tell. Aw nivver saw
th' like. Aw dooant know what papers are gooin into, for ther isn't a
bit o' news in em. Aw've just glanced ovver this an aw can find nowt
worth readin."

"It doesen't tak thee an haar an a hawf to find that aght. Is ther owt
in abaat th' war?"

"Oh, war! Aw believe it does say summat abaat th' war. It's still gooin
on, an one chap has sprained his ankle an another has had a narrow
escape an De Wet is expected to be captured as sooin as they get hold on
him, an a lot moor sich tales, but they arn't worth thinkin abaat coss
they'll all be contradicted ith' mornin."

"An does it say nowt abaat that butcher at's run away an left his wife?
Awr Hepsabah wor sayin shoo believed they'd catched him."

"Hi! They've catched him, an he wor browt up at th' Taan Hall this
mornin an he pleaded 'guilty,' soa th' magistrate sed as he'd allus
borne a gooid character he'd give him his choice, an he could awther goa
back hooam an live wi his wife or goa to quod for three months wi hard
labour."

"They've let him off easier nor he desarved, but aw should think his
wife's gien him a bit ov her mind."

"Nay, net shoo! Shoo's nivver had th' chonce, for he tuk three months.
Shoo