THE THIEF AND POACHER. 87 



woman for tlie otliers, andj to my utter astonish- 

 ment, asked me ^^ not to (jive them foociy In 

 reply to further questions, she assured me, that 

 ^^if I gave them food, they and their chiklren 

 wouhl be none the better for it, for their three 

 husbands woukl appropriate it all to themselves 

 and take it to the public-house. The larger dinner 

 — the one appropriated to the woman with five 

 children — would be sold for beer, while the two 

 smaller dinners together would make a sufficient 

 repast to accompany the liquor, and afford a 

 public-house jollification, in which neither mother 

 nor child would be permitted to share." — '^ Well, 

 then," I answered, ^^ your husbands I always 

 knew to be bad men, but of you (the Avomen) I 

 have neither heard nor known any harm ; I would 

 aid you and your children if I could, l3ut what 

 you tell me renders it impossible." — '^Give us 

 the money," she replied, ^^the cost of our dinners 

 which you contemplated ; the men will not know 

 how much you give us, and whatever it is we 

 will keep to ourselves." 



It ended by my giving them some money 

 but whether they (the women) spent it in food 

 or in gin, of course never came to my knowledge. 



