“Dare you wager ten dollars, mother, that I don’t make you lay bare your own shame?”
“Yes I dare”, said she; and so they wagered ten dollars. So one day, while the lad and the deaf man stood thrashing in the barn, the lad saw that Tom Totherhouse came to see the Goody. He said nothing, but a good while before dinnertime he turned toward the barn-door, and bawled out “Halloa!”
“What! are we to go home already?” said the man, who hadn’t given any heed to what the lad did.
“Yes, we must, since mother calls”, said the lad.
So when they got into the passage, the lad began to hem and cough, that the Goody might get Tom Totherhouse out of the way. But when they came into the room, there stood a whole bowl of custards on the table.
“Nay, nay, mother”, cried out the man; “shall we have custards to-day?”
“Yes, that you shall, dear”, said the Goody; but she was as sour as verjuice, and as cross as two sticks.
So when they had eaten and drank all the good cheer up, off they went again to their work, and the Goody said to Tom:
“Deil take that lad’s sharp nose, this was all his fault; but now you must be off as fast as you can, and I’ll come down to you in the mead with a snack between meals.”
This the lad stood outside in the passage and listened to.