eir face. A lot o' mee-mawing snickets! But they 're no
better nor porritch, Robert, when they're looked up.' 'Not a bit,
Betty,--not a bit! But I mun be off. Good neet to yo'.' 'Good neet
Robert,' said Betty. An' away he went wi' th' cart up to th' Hollins."

"Aw'll tell tho what, Skedlock," said Nanny; "that woman's a terrible
tung!"

"Aye, hoo has," replied Skedlock; "an' her mother wur th' same. But,
let me finish my tale, Nanny, an' then--"

"Well, it wur pitch dark when Robin geet to th' Hollins farm-yard wi'
his cart. He gav a ran-tan at th' back dur, wi' his whip-hondle; and
when th' little lass coom with a candle, he said, 'Aw've getten a
weshin'-machine for yo.' As soon as th' little lass yerd that, hoo
darted off, tellin' o' th' house that th' new weshin'-machine wur
come'd. Well, yo known, they'n five daughters; an' very cliver, honsome,
tidy lasses they are, too,--as what owd Betty says. An' this news
brought 'em o' out o' their nooks in a fluster. Owd Isaac wur sit i'th
parlour, havin' a glass wi' a chap that he'd bin sellin' a cowt to. Th'
little lass went bouncin' into th' reawm to him; an' hoo said, 'Eh,
father, th' new weshin'-machine's come'd!' 'Well, well,' said Isaac,
pattin' her o'th yed; 'go thi ways an' tell thi mother. Aw'm no wesher.
Thae never sees me weshin', doesto? I bought it for yo lasses; an' yo
mun look after it yorsels. Tell some o'th men to get it into th'
wesh-house.' So they had it carried into th' wesh-house; an' when they
geet it unpacked they were quite astonished to see a grand shinin'
thing, made o' rose-wood, an' cover't wi' glitterin' kerly-berlys. Th'
little lass clapped her hands, an' said, 'Eh, isn't it a beauty!' But
th' owd'st daughter looked hard at it, an' hoo said, 'Well, this is th'
strangest weshin'-machine that I ever saw!' 'Fetch a bucket o' water,'
said another, 'an' let's try it!' But they couldn't get it oppen,
whatever they did; till, at last, they fund some keys, lapt in a piece
of breawn papper. 'Here they are,' said Mary. Mary's th' owd'st
daughter, yo known. 'Here they are;' an' hoo potter't an' rooted abeawt,
tryin' these keys; till hoo fund one that fitted at th' side, an' hoo
twirled it round an' round till hoo'd wund it up; an' then,--yo may
guess how capt they wur, when it started a-playin' a tune. 'Hello?' said
Robin. 'A psaum-tune, bith mass! A psaum-tune eawt ov a weshin'-machine!
Heaw's that?' An' he star't like a throttled cat. 'Nay,' said Mary