Set 'em out near the hind wheels, child, that's the best place,' said

their friend, superintending the arrangements from above. 'Now hand

up the teapot for a little more hot water, and a pinch of fresh tea, and

then both of you eat and drink as much as you can, and don't spare

anything; that's all I ask of you.'

They might perhaps have carried out the lady's wish, if it had been

less freely expressed, or even if it had not been expressed at all. But

as this direction relieved them from any shadow of delicacy or

uneasiness, they made a hearty meal and enjoyed it to the utmost.

While they were thus engaged, the lady of the caravan alighted on the

earth, and with her hands clasped behind her, and her large bonnet

trembling excessively, walked up and down in a measured tread and

very stately manner, surveying the caravan from time to time with an

air of calm delight, and deriving particular gratification from the red

panels and the brass knocker. When she had taken this gentle

exercise for some time, she sat down upon the steps and called

George'; whereupon a man in a carter's frock, who had been so

shrouded in a hedge up to this time as to see everything that passed

without being seen himself, parted the twigs that concealed him, and

appeared in a sitting attitude, supporting on his legs a baking-dish

and a half-gallon stone bottle, and bearing in his right hand a knife,

and in his left a fork.

Yes, Missus,' said George.

How did you find the cold pie, George?'

It warn't amiss, mum.'

And the beer,' said the lady of the caravan, with an appearance of

being more interested in this question than the last; 'is it passable,

George?'

It's more flatterer than it might be,' George returned, 'but it an't so

bad for all that.'

To set the mind of his mistress at rest, he took a sip (amounting in

quantity to a pint or thereabouts) from the stone bottle, and then

smacked his lips, winked his eye, and nodded his head. No doubt with

the same amiable desire, he immediately resumed his knife and fork,

as a practical assurance that the beer had wrought no bad effect upon

his appetite.

The lady of the caravan looked on approvingly for some time, and then

said,

The Old Curiosity Shop