“Lucky!” she repeated rather ruefully, “am I; look at that fire, fair smokes you out,” then rather insinuatingly added:
“Now you got on all right with the poovengroes, suppose you try your hand at gettin’ her a-goin’,” at the same time nodding towards the fire, which certainly smoked terribly, but appeared very unwilling to burn as desired.
“Well,” said I, perhaps rather ungallantly, “I suppose I may as well do that as sit and look at you.”
“Oh, I don’t mind being looked at,” returned Sinfai, “but you might help with the fire at the same time,—jest see what I do, and if you make some like them, we’ll have her going in no time.”
Hereupon she took a piece of dry deal from an old box and split from it a slip; this she deftly cut from one end almost to the other in a series of leafy shavings around it, and in such a manner that each shaving remained attached to the stick. Together we prepared a number of these and arranged them in a conical pile, each one having the detached end of the chips downward, and a match was applied.
“Got him!” exclaimed Sinfai in her impulsive way as we fed the flames, at first with small twigs, then with larger pieces, and although there was a superabundance of pungent smoke, we had also a cheery, crackling fire.
The kettle was now filled and hung upon the crane, the potatoes were cut into thick slices and set cooking with some meat in the frying-pan. A saucepan was next half-filled with water in readiness for a smoked haddock Vardomescro père was expected to bring.
“Listen!” said Sinfai, “there’s dad coming,” and, although at the moment I could hear nothing to indicate the approach of any living thing, the lapse of a few minutes proved the superior keenness of her hearing, for I began to catch—very indistinctly at first—snatches of the old fellow’s favourite song, “Poor old Joe.”
“Ah! here he comes,” added Sinfai as he approached; “he’s allus ’appy.” In this instance, however, the ’appiness had some connection with refreshment recently imbibed.
Extracting a small parcel from his coat pocket he handed it to her, saying—