Ted was smiling amusedly.
Denis seized the loaf.
"Great Scott, it's as hard as stone! Shake her, Ted, shake the explanation out of her!"
"I—I told Sarah—to wet it and put it in the oven—to make it new! O dear!"
He rang the bell.
"You might experiment on lump sugar next time, old girl, 'twon't affect me, you see!"
"The rest's all the same, miss! I did it all at once just as you told me to, and you said as I wasn't to horder any more till the stale was used up—"
"All right, Sarah," Denis broke in impatiently; "go to the nearest baker's, and get a loaf at once."
"Mistress won't 'ave nothink to do with Brown, sir; she says they give short weight—"
"Then go to Smith or Robinson's!" he shouted impatiently.