"Coals"—repeated Mr. Wharncliffe, noting it down.
"Have they a stove that will do?"
"I am afraid not. I will try and find a second-hand one."
"A table, and two or three chairs."
Those went down in the list.
"And, O, Mr. Wharncliffe, a tea-kettle! And something to cook meat in, and boil potatoes."
"What do you know about cooking meat and boiling potatoes?" Mr. Wharncliffe asked, looking amused. "Those things will perhaps come with the stove; and at any rate do not cost much."
"And then, some decent plates and cups and saucers, and common knives, you know, and a few such things."
"They have some things which they use now. You must not try to do too much. Remember, there are other people who want bread."
"Well—not those things then, if you think not," said Matilda. "But a bedstead, and a comfortable bed, Mr. Wharncliffe; that they must have."