it better, if only for her health's sake, to try and swallow
something. She put a piece of cheese in her mouth. Mavis, by now,
was an authority on cheap cheese; she knew all the varieties of
flavour to be found in the lesser-priced cheeses. Ordinarily, she
had been enabled to make them palatable with the help of vinegar,
mustard, or even with an onion; but tonight none of these resources
were at hand with which to make appetising the soapy compound on her
plate. Miss Striem, the dark little woman at the head of the table,
noted her disinclination to tackle the cheese.

"You can have anything exthra if you care to pay for it," she
remarked.

"What have you?" asked Mavis.

"Ham, bloater, or chicken pathte, and an exthellent brand of
thardines."

"I'll try the ham paste," said Mavis.

An opened tin of ham paste was put before her. Mavis noticed that
the other girls were looking at her out of the corners of their
eyes.

She put some of the paste on to her plate; it looked unusual, even
for potted meat; but ascribing its appearance to the effect of the
light, Mavis spread some on a bit of bread and put this in her
mouth. Only for a moment; the next, she had removed it with her
handkerchief. One of the girls tittered. Miss Striem looked sharply
in this person's direction.