William condescended to explain himself.
“I’m a gold-digger,” he said.
“Criky!” said the butler.
William was led down again to the kitchen.
The butler threw open a door that led to a small pantry.
“This ’ere is where you work, and this ’ere,” pointing to a large kitchen, “is where you live. You ’ave not,” he ended haughtily “the hentry into the servants’ ’all.”
“Crumbs!” said William.
“You might has well begin at once,” went on the butler, “there’s all this lunch’s knives to clean. ’Ere’s a hapron, ’ere’s the knife-board an’ ’ere’s the knife-powder.”
He shut the bewildered William into the small pantry and turned to the cook.
“What do you think of ’im?” he said.