He hesitated a
moment, then took up his cup and plate, and sat down in the window-
seat.
Miss Fosbrook breathed freely, and she had almost said, "Thank you,
Sam," but she did not think this was the time; and collecting
herself, she said, "Fun is all very well, and I hope we shall have
plenty, but we ought not to let it grow riotous; and I don't think it
was of a good sort when it was complaining of the food provided for
us."
The children were all rather subdued by what she said; some felt a
little cross, and some rather ashamed; and when Mary brought back the
dish replenished with slices, no one said a word as to whether the
butter were thick or thin. The silence seemed to David a favourable
occasion for renewing the great question, "How does a pig pay the
rent?"
There was a general giggle, and again Miss Fosbrook was as bad as
any: while David, looking affronted, tapped the table with the
handle of his spoon, and repeated, "I want to know."
"I'll tell you, Davy man," began Henry, first recovering. "The pig
is a very sagacious animal, especially in Hampshire, and so he smells
out wherever the bags of money are sown underground, and digs them up
with his nose.
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