An' as to beggin' she
_would_ beg, she loved to beg an' say texes.'
'Old kidnapper!' I cried, maddened by the visions that came upon me.
'How do I know that she came to no harm with a wretch like you?'
The woman shrank back upon the pillows in a revival of her terror.
'She never comed to no 'arm, p'leaceman. No, no, she never comed to
no 'arm through me. I'd a darter once o' my own, Jenny Gudgeon by
name--p'raps you know'd 'er, most o' the coppers did--as was brought
up by my sister by marriage at Carnarvon, an' I sent for 'er to
London, I did, pl'eaceman--God forgi'e me--an' she went wrong all
through me bein' a drinkin' woman an' not seein' arter 'er, just as
my son Bob tookt to drink, through me bein' a drinkin' woman an' not
seein' arter _him_. She tookt and went from bad to wuss, bad to
wuss; it's my belief as it's allus starvation as drives 'em to it;
an' when she wur a-dyin' gal, she sez to me, "Mother," sez she,
"I've got the smell o' Welsh vi'lets on me ag'in: I wants to be
buried in Llanbeblig churchyard, among the Welsh child'n an' maids,
mother.
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