[Looks at floor.
DEACON ROBERTS. Were they fresh?
DEACON ROBERTS. [Sharply.] Dunno? About eggs?
[Picks up egg.
HUGH. [Troubled.] Neli's hens laid them.
DEACON ROBERTS. I see, Neli's hens laid 'em, an' you broke 'em! Admirable arrangement! [Putting down the egg and turning toward the cheese, speaks on impatiently.] Well, indeed then, were the hens fresh?
HUGH. [More cheerful.] Yiss, I think. Last week the basket was grand an' full of fresh eggs, but they disappeared, aye, they did indeed.
DEACON ROBERTS. [Starts.] Where did they go to?
HUGH. [Injured.] How can I say? I was here, an' I would have told her if I had seen, but I did not whatever. Neli reproves me for too great attention to visions an' too little to the groceries.