"But--but--you know---" he suggested lamely.

"Know?--I know!--What do _I_ know?" A pause, then, with
startling suddenness, "Phwat d'y' mean?"

"No offence, Mrs Mac--no offence; but haven't you got something in
the way of--of a drink to offer us?"

"Dhrink! Isn't the coffee good enough for ye? I paid two and six a
pound for ut, and the milk new from the cow this very evenin'--an' th'
water rain-water."

"But--but--you know what I mean, Mrs Mac."

"An' I doan't know what ye mean. _Phwat do ye mean_? I've
asked ye that before. What are ye dhrivin' at, man--out with it!"

"Well, I mean a little drop of the right stuff," he said, nettled.
Then he added: "No offence--no harm done."

"O-o-oh!" she said, illumination bursting in upon her brain. "It's
the dirrty drink ye're afther, is it? Well, I'll tell ye, first for
last, that we doan't keep a little drop of the right stuff nor a
little drop of the wrong stuff in this house. It's a honest house,
an' me husband's a honest harrd-worrkin' carrier, as he'd soon let ye
know if he was at home this cold night, poor man. No dirrty drink
comes into this house, nor goes out of it, I'd have ye know."

"Now, now, Mrs Mac, between friends, I meant no offence; but it's a
cold night, and I thought you might keep a bottle for medicine--or in