"Yo' see it were this way," said Thewlis, when he could get a hearing. "Th' table' wor set all ready for th' weddin' party. Aw'd laid a clean cloth on th' table. There were a plate an' a knife an' fork for every one that were comin'. Th' house were tidied up an' as clean yo' could had etten yor dinner off th' floor. Then Jack started off to fetch Susan. Th' cakes were on th' table, one bi each plate. Aw put th' joint on th' jack afore th' fire just as he'd told me bi th' clock. Then aw set me dahn to watch it. It wor a grand joint. Aw could ha' fair hugged it when aw took it up, so plump an' red and firm, wi' streaks o' fat runnin' in an' among th' lean like rivers o' cream in a bank o' strawberries. Th' fire were just reight, banked down an' hot, an' aw ca-ered me dahn first o' one side o' th' hearth an' then on t' other, an' began to watch th' hands o' t' clock an' wish it wor dinner time. Dinner time it were bi reights, but we'd put th' dinner back so's Jim an' his frien's could walk through th' village. Then th' skin o' th' joint began to crack, an' th' fat to fizzle an' ooze 'aat an spit. Aw looked at th' clock. Aw'll swear th' han's hedn't moved for half-an-hour, an' yet it were tickin' reg'lar--aw nivver felt hauf as hungry i' mi life afore. Aw'd had no breakfas', for awd said to mi sen it 'ud nivver do to shame yar Jack's weddin' dinner bi not doin' reight bi it. Then all at once th' jack gay' a click an' summut splurted aat, an' all at once there wer' a smell at fair made mi belly leap inside me. But aw'd promised yar Jack at aw'd do fair--so aw went to th' cellar-head to see if ther' wer' happen a crust or owt to stay mi innards, but ther' wer' nowt. Then ther' wer' another click, an' another spurt, an' th' room wer' fair full o' th' smell. It awmost turned me dizzy. Aw looked at th' clock agen, an' guise 'ang me, if th' hand had stirred aboon an inch, an' dinner seemed as far off as ivver. Then aw thowt awd fetch th' ale. So aw got th' jug an' a milkin' can an' started off to th' Globe. Aw tried hard to strap a gill, but th' owd skin-flint wouldn't trust me. Aw'd awmost talked her into it when t' thowt cam' into mi head at happen one o' th' naybors 'at hedn't bin axed to th' weddin' might be after th' joint; an' aw span home as fast as aw could for fear o' spillin'. Then when aw oppened th' door ther' war' a fair blast o' th' smell o' gravy right i' mi face. It just took mi breath away, an' aw had to tak' a pull at th' jug to steady misen. That heartened me up a bit, an' aw just took one o' th' cakes, mi own at wer' to be an' set i' my own place at th' table, so it were no robbery,--an aw put it i' th' pan under th' meat; an', by gow, it wer' a sop an' gradely. Aw think aw mun ha' put too much salt on it, for aw felt as dry as a lime-kiln. Then aw had another swig at th' jug, an' looked aat for th' weddin', but aw could see no' signs on 'em. Then aw bethowt me at