The schoolmaster passed through into the little kitchen.
"Ay, bud ah s'd think 'e 'll 'a drunken it all by this time," Emma exclaimed, with not unkindly sarcasm. She had a reputation, even well deserved, in the district of a tart tongue when occasion called for it—which it frequently did—but to Pam her asperity was something in the nature of a loving shield. She could say the hardest and flintiest utterances to Pam, and yet convey the sense of kindness through them. Her hand, indeed, was bony, but its grasp was tender. "An' 'ow did ye find t' old gentleman? No better, ah s'd think."
"No."
"Nay, 'e 'll nivver be no better i' this wuld, ah doot. They gied ye yer tea, it seems."
"No-o."
"What! En't ye 'ad it, then?"
"Yes, thank you, Emma."
"Where?"
"I had it at Shippus."
"At Shippus. Well, ah nivver! Did ye gan by yersen?"