'Do not come near,' said she. It was Winefred. 'I have plucked a branch of thorn from the tree, and will strike you in the face if you venture.'
'There is no need for a thorn branch when you have a needle in your mouth.'
'Why have you followed me?'
'I did not know that you had left the barn.'
'That is false. You have been watching me.'
'I have been to the Axmouth gate, but I changed my mind and came back.'
'You have been watching me. I saw you. What right have you to stare me out of countenance?'
'A cat may look at a Queen, and a poor lad like me may look at a clawed cat, I reckon.'
'I will not be peered at. At revels, clowns grin through a horse-collar—but to cut grimaces through a slit in a wall is not a Christmas pastime.'
'It is not forbidden to look on at a dance.'