Ready at hand was mustard, made in a tea-cup; having taken a
certain quantity of this condiment on to her knife, she proceeded to
spread each sausage with it from end to end, patting them in a
friendly way as she finished the operation. Next she sprinkled them
with pepper, and after that she constructed a little pile of salt on
the side of the plate, using her fingers to convey it from the
salt-cellar. It remained to cut a thick slice of bread--she held
the loaf pressed to her bosom whilst doing this--and to crush it
down well into the black grease beside the sausages; then Clem was
ready to begin.
For five minutes she fed heartily, showing really remarkable skill
in conveying pieces of sausage to her mouth by means of the knife
alone. Finding it necessary to breathe at last, she looked round at
Jane. The hand-maiden was on her knees near the fire, scrubbing very
hard at the pan with successive pieces of newspaper. It was a sight
to increase the gusto of Clem's meal, but of a sudden there came
into the girl's mind a yet more delightful thought. I have mentioned
that in the back-kitchen lay the body of a dead woman; it was
already encoffined, and waited for interment on the morrow, when
Mrs.
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