w 
     
     A Tea Table Conversation 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     same afternoon and neither would leave 
     
     because that would be knuckling down 
     
     to the other. So they stuck it out, on op- 
     
     posite sides of the parlour. Mrs. Foster 
     
     says she never spent such an uncomfort- 
     
     able afternoon in all her life before. She 
     
     would talk a spell to one and then to 
     
     t’other. And they kept talking to Mrs. 
     
     Foster and at each other. Mrs. Foster 
     
     says she really thought she’d have to keep 
     
     them all night, for neither would start to 
     
     go home afore the other. Finally Jim 
     
     Martin came in to look for his Wife, ’cause 
     
     he thought she must have got stuck in 
     
     the marsh, and that solved the problem. 
     
     Master, you ain’t eating anything. Don’t 
     
     mind my stopping; I was at it half an 
     
     hour afore you come, and anyway I’m in 
     
     a hurry. My hired boy went home to-day. 
     
     He heard the rooster crow at twelve last 
     
     night and he’s gone home to see which of 
     
     his family is dead. He knows one of ’em 
     
     is. He heard a rooster crow in the middle 
     
     of the night onct afore and the next day 
     
    
   
   
    
     51