his friends to rescue the old girl from her captors. When he learned that
she was in no danger, he grew enthusiastic, and insisted on helping
to carry the provisions.

"'Ere, Dad, yer've lost yer 'ead. Take this," said Chook, offering him
a cabbage.

"Keep it, sonny--keep it; you want it more than I do," cried Dad,
scornfully.

So saying, he tore a shoulder of mutton out of Waxy's hands, and,
carrying it in his arms as a woman carries a child, joined the procession
with sudden, zigzag steps. When the party reached the cottage, it was met
with a howl of welcome from the crowd, which now reached to the opposite
footpath. Barney Ryan, seized with an inspiration, broke suddenly into
"Mother Shipton". The chorus was taken up with a roar of discordant
voices:


Good old Mother has come again to prophesy
Things that will surely occur as the days go rolling by,
So listen to me if you wish to know,
For I'll let you into the know, you know,
And tell you some wonders before I go
To home, sweet home.


Mrs Yabsley, delighted by the compliment, stood on her veranda, smiling
and radiant, like Royalty receiving homage from its subjects. This set
the ball rolling. Song followed song, the pick of the music-halls.