s. Royle. "Indecent, you call me?--you that
pretend to ha' been a gentleman! I reckon, if indecency's the matter
in these times, I could talk to one or two of ye about it."

"Not a doubt of _that_, ma'am. . . . But really you ladies have no
right here: it's clean against the rules, and the hubbub you provoke
is a scandal."

"Do you mean to insinuate, sir--"

"With your leave, ma'am, I mean to insinuate myself between your
person and the table from which at this moment you debar me.
Ah!" exclaimed Brother Copas as the cook whipped off the first of the
great dish-covers, letting loose a cloud of savoury steam.
He sniffed at it.

"What's this? Boiled pork, and in June! We'll have a look at the
others, please . . . Roast leg of mutton, boiled neck and scrag of
mutton--aha! You shall give me a cut of the roast, please; and start
at the knuckle end. Yes, Biscoe--_at the knuckle end_."

Hate distorted Brother Biscoe's patriarchal face. He came second on
the rota, and roast knuckle of mutton was the tit-bit dearest of all
to his heart, as Brother Copas knew. Brother Biscoe also had a
passion for the two first cutlets of a mutton-neck; but he thought
nothing of this in his rage.

"Please God it'll choke ye!" he snarled.

"Dear Brother," said Copas amiably, "on Monday last you helped me to
the back of a duck."

"Hurry up there!" shouted Brother Woolcombe, and swung round.
"Are we all to get cold dinner when these two old fools have done
wrangling?"

"Fool yourself, Woolcombe!" Brother Biscoe likewise swung about.
"Here's Copas has brought two plates! Isn't it time to speak up,
when a rogue's caught cheating?"

One or two cried out that he ought to lose his turn for it.

"My friends," said Brother Copas, not at all perturbed, "the second
plate is for Brother Bonaday's dinner, when his turn arrives.
He has a heart-attack to-day, and cannot come for himself."

"A _heart_-attack!" sniggered Mrs. Royle, her voice rising shrill
above the din. "Oh, save us if we didn't all know _that_ news!"

Laughter crackled like musketry about Brother Copas's ears, laughter
to him quite meaningless. It was plain that all shared some joke
against his friend Bonaday; but he had no clue.

"And," pursued Mrs. Royle, "here's his best friend tellin' us as 'tis
a scandal the way women push themselves into St. Hospital--'when
they're not wanted,' did I hear you say, sir? Yes, 'a scandal' he
said, and 'indecent'; which I leave i