t on it," answered Jud in
enthusiasm. "Theer's a mon ca'd Friday, an' a lot o' fellys as eats each
other--cannybles they ca' 'em----"

"Look tha here," interposed Craddock, his curiosity and interest getting
the better of him. "Sit thee down and read a bit. That's something as I
nivver heard on--cannybles an' th' loike. Pick thee th' place, an' let's
hear summat about th' cannybles if tha has na th' toime to do no more."

Jud needed no second invitation. Sharing the general opinion that "Owd
Sammy" was a man of mark, he could not help feeling that Crusoe was
complimented by his attention. He picked out his place, as his hearer
had advised him, and plunged into the details of the cannibal feast with
pride and determination. Though his elocution may have been of a style
peculiar to beginners and his pronunciation occasionally startling in
its originality, still Sammy gathered the gist of the story. He puffed
at his pipe so furiously that the foreign gentleman's turbaned head was
emptied with amazing rapidity, and it was necessary to refill it two or
three times; he rubbed his corduroy knees with both hands, occasionally
he slapped one of them in the intensity of his interest, and when Jud
stopped he could only express himself in his usual emphatic formula--

"Well, I am dom'd. An' tha says, as th' chap's name wur Robyson?"

"Aye, Robyson Crusoe."

"Well, I mun say, as I'd ha' loike to ha' knowed him. I did know a mon
by th' name o' Robyson onct, but it could na ha' been him, fur he wur na
mich o' a chap. If he'd a bin cast o' a desert island, he would na had
th' gumption to do aw that theer--Jem Robyson could na. It could na
ha' been him--an' besides, he could na ha' writ it out, as that theer
felly's done."

There was a pause, in which Craddock held his pipe in his hand
reflectively--shaking his head once more.

"Cannybles an' th' loike too," he said. "Theer's a soight o' things as a
mon does na hear on. Why, _I_ nivver heard o' cannybles mysen, an' I
am na considert ignorant by th' most o' foak." Then, as Jud rose to go,
"Art tha fur goin'?" he asked. "Weil, I mun say as I'd loike to hear
summat more about Robyson; but, if tha mun go, tha mun, I suppose.
Sithee here, could tha coom again an' bring him wi' thee?"

"I mowt; I dunna moind the walk."

"Then thee do it," getting up to accompany him to the gates. "An' I'll
gi'e thee a copper now an' then to pay thee. Theer's summat i' a book o'
that soart. Coom thee