once sustained ; if there had been any doubt 

 upon the subject he would speedily have resolved 

 it by his conduct ; for not only did he, on seeing 

 Short, give the strongest tokens of recognition, 

 but catching sight of the flat box he barked so 

 furiously at the pasteboard nose which he knew 

 was inside, that his master was obliged to gather 

 him up and put him into his pocket again, to 

 the great relief of the whole company. 



The Landlord now busied himself in laying the 

 cloth, in which process Mr. Codlin obligingly 

 assisted by setting forth his own knife and fork 

 in the most convenient place and establishing 

 himself behind them. When everything was 

 ready, the Landlord took off the cover for the last 

 time, and then indeed there burst forth such a 

 goodly promise of supper, that if he had offered 

 to put it on again or had hinted at postponement, 

 he would certainly have been sacrificed on his 

 own hearth. 



However, he did nothing of the kind, but instead 

 thereof assisted a stout servant girl in turning the 

 contents of the cauldron into a large tureen ; a 

 proceeding which the dogs, proof against various 

 hot splashes which fell upon their noses, watched 

 with terrible eagerness. At length the dish was 

 lifted on to the table, and mugs of ale having 

 been previously set round, little Nell ventured to 

 say grace, and supper began. 



185 



