"If so be as I'm not, I'm ower old to learn!" she retorted, waiting till her opponent should give her some sure ground for combat. Griff, spoiling for one of his old-time fights with the redoubtable Betty, put on just that air of smiling effrontery which most annoyed her. "A woman is as old as she looks, Mrs. Binns, and there's heaps of time yet for you to learn." "Tak your fal-lal Lunnon manners to them as wants 'em!" snorted Mrs. Binns, viciously laying to on the wristbands of the shirt, and glaring bellicosely at the intruder. She broke a button during the process--a piece of carelessness which did not tend to soothe her ruffled feelings. "All right; I'm off in a moment. What I wanted to say to you was just this--a woman of sense would never let her master starve as you do. Gabriel Hirst will die before long, if he goes on with these precious slops you give him, and his death will be at your door." This was an aspect of the situation which had not occurred to Betty. She was not going to confess as much, though, so she merely growled an invitation to Lomax to go on with what he had to say. "Just put a pan of water on the fire, and a couple of good fresh eggs in the pan--no, you can put four. I've breakfasted already, but I'll start again by way of example." "An' who gave ye leave, if I may mak so bold as to axe to come lording it i' _my_ kitchen?" "No one; but I'm here all the same. You don't know the food a strong man needs, and I've come to teach you." Betty Binns was in two minds whether she should throw her iron at Griff's head; but she restrained herself, and tried her hand at grim satire instead. "Th' maister is a man o' God, Mr. Lummax, which _tha'll_ niver be nohow tha tries. It's nobbut likely he should want his vittals different fro' other fowks's." "The more he's a man of God, the more strength he needs to fight the devil.--Now come, Mrs. Binns, we've had many a set-to in times gone by, and I'll acknowledge you generally have the best of it: won't you do my way this once?" He was talking sense now, Betty could not but admit. Of course she always had the best of it--it took something more than a mere man to vanquish Betty Binns--and she always had said "there war summat she liked i' th' lad;" and perhaps he was not as far wrong on this occasion as bothersome men-folk generally were. "Well, happen ye've hit on a bit o' common sense once i' a while. Th' maister, he do look main poorly when th' Sperrit keeps strong meät out on him. Ay, well, well, we'll be seeing." Lomax chuckled at the overthrow of Betty Binns; he had expected more fight from her. Truth to tell, however, the housekeeper had been sorely bothered of late to see Gabriel growing leaner and leaner; he was a solid, square-built man, as his father had been before him, when Nature had her own way, but his increasing mania for slops was playing havoc with him. So that Betty was really a good deal relieved to find an ally in young Lomax.