Lor' to take a young woman under a hedge, and
talk to her as you did to Ursula; and yet you got everything out of
her that you wanted, with your gammon about old Fulcher and
Meridiana. You are a cunning one, brother."
"There you are mistaken, Jasper. I am not cunning. If people
think I am, it is because, being made up of art themselves,
simplicity of character is a puzzle to them. Your women are
certainly extraordinary creatures, Jasper."
"Didn't I say they were rum animals? Brother, we Romans shall
always stick together as long as they stick fast to us."
"Do you think they always will, Jasper?"
"Can't say, brother; nothing lasts for ever. Romany chies are
Romany chies still, though not exactly what they were sixty years
ago. My wife, though a rum one, is not Mrs. Herne, brother. I
think she is rather fond of Frenchmen and French discourse. I tell
you what, brother, if ever gypsyism breaks up, it will be owing to
our chies having been bitten by that mad puppy they calls
gentility."
CHAPTER XII
The Dingle at Night--The Two Sides of the Question--Roman Females--
Filling the Kettle--The Dream--The Tall Figure.
I descended to the bottom of the dingle. It was nearly involved in
obscurity. To dissipate the feeling of melancholy which came over
my mind, I resolved to kindle a fire; and having heaped dry sticks
upon my hearth, and added a billet or two, I struck a light, and
soon produced a blaze.
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