25 JANUARY 1957, Page 30

INNOCENT LIKE

'I was drivin' me van on me round, see, when I spots this chap comin' up the hedgeside from the river. Now, I'm always a one for mindin' me own business, but when I starts up the steep slope the van goes an' conks out. This chap comin' from the river steps on to the road a few yards in front. What you think he's got on 'is back but a big salmon? Well, it was out o' season, as I knew, an' e 'ad no right to it. I shouts to 'im, "Hey," I says, "'old your 'osses!" but 'e takes to 'is 'eels right away. It didn't seem but right-to run after 'im, so I starts to run, an' e dives through the 'edge an' goes off like mad, but 'e dropped the salmon on the road. Innocent like, 1 picks it up an' puts it in me van.' The storyteller paused, an earnest expression on his face, and, as he looked about, a man who had remained silent before cleared his throat and said mischievously, 'We knows all that,. Bert. That's the yarn you tole the bench. It didn't stop you gettin' fined, though, did it?' ,