Well....

You see....

I'm makin' up to her gradual like, and in time----" And Bernel in the hole dug his elbow facetiously into Nance's side.
"Mon Gyu! To think of a slip of a thing like our Nance making a great big fellow like you as fool-soft as a bit of tallow!" and Tom stared at him in amazement.

"Why, I've licked her scores of times, and I used to lift her up by the hair of her head." "I'd ha' knocked your head right off, Tom Hamon, if I'd been there.
Right off--yes, an' bumped it on the ground." "No, you wouldn't.

'Cause, in the first place, you couldn't, and in the second place you wouldn't have looked at her then.