“Most excellent indeed!”

“Is it quite fresh?”

“Perfectly! I dare say it was laid only a minute before it was boiled!”

“I have seen the eggs much larger than that.”

“Yes! but then I believe they are rather coarse,—at least we think so, when Mrs. Crabtree gives us a turkey egg at dinner.”

“If you prefer them small, perhaps you would like a guinea-fowl’s egg?”

“Thank you! but this one is just as I like them.”

“It looks rather over-done! If you think so, we could get another in a minute!”

“No! they are better well boiled!”

“Then probably it is not enough done. Some people like them quite hard, and I could easily pop it into the slop-basin for another minute.”