r.

Old Sam put his 'ead under the bedclothes and laughed till the bed shook;
and every now and then he'd put his 'ead out and look at Peter and Ginger
and laugh agin till he choked.

"I see 'ow it is," he ses, sitting up and wiping his eyes on the sheet.
"Well, we cant all win."

"Wot d'ye mean?" ses Ginger, very disagreeable.

"She wouldn't 'ave you, Sam, thats wot I mean. And I don't wonder at
it. I wouldn't 'ave you if I was a gal."

"You're dreaming, ses Peter Russet, sneering at 'im.

"That flower-pot o' yours'll come in handy," ses Sam, thinking 'ow he 'ad
put 'is arm round the widow's waist; "and I thank you kindly for the
teapot, Ginger.

"You don't mean to say as you've asked 'er to marry you?" ses Ginger,
looking at Peter Russet.

"Not quite; but I'm going to," ses Sam, "and I'll bet you even arf-crowns
she ses 'yes.'"

Ginger wouldn't take 'im, and no more would Peter, not even when he raised
it to five shillings; and the vain way old Sam lay there boasting and
talking about 'is way with the gals made 'em both feel ill.

"I wouldn't 'ave her if she asked me on 'er bended knees," ses Ginger,
holding up his 'ead.

"Nor me," ses Peter. "You're welcome to 'er, Sam. When I think of the
evenings I've wasted over a fat old woman I feel----"

"That'll do," ses old Sam, very sharp; "that ain't the way to speak of a
lady, even if she 'as said 'no.'"

"All right, Sam," ses Ginger. "You go in and win if you think you're so
precious clever."

Old Sam said that that was wot 'e was going to do, and he spent so much
time next morning making 'imself look pretty that the other two could
'ardly be civil to him.

He went off a'most direckly arter breakfast, and they didn't see 'im agin
till twelve o'clock that night. He 'ad brought a bottle o' whisky in
with 'im, and he was so 'appy that they see plain wot had 'appened.

"She said 'yes' at two o'clock in the arternoon," ses old Sam, smiling,
arter they had 'ad a glass apiece. "I'd nearly done the trick at one
o'clock, and then the shop-bell went, and I 'ad to begin all over agin.
Still, it wasn't unpleasant."

"Do you mean to tell us you've asked 'er to marry you?" ses Ginger,
'olding out 'is glass to be filled agin.

"I do," ses Sam; "but I 'ope there's no ill-feeling. You never 'ad a
chance, neither of you; she told me so."

Ginger Dick and Peter Russet stared at each other.

"She said she 'ad been in love with me all along," ses Sam, filling