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But,
in this world, we must consider others. The lady under whose roof I have
the honour of (32)residing
is a widow, and, for all I know,possibly an orphan too. She
has a strong, I may say,an eloquent objection to
being what she terms ‘put upon’.(33)
The presence of your husband's cheeses in her house she would, I instinctively
feel, regard as a ‘put upon’, and it shall never he
said that I put upon the widow and the orphan.(34)”
“Very well, then,” said
my friend’s wife, rising, “all I have to say is that I shall take the children
and go to a hotel until those cheeses are eaten. I
decline to live (35)any
longer in the same house with them.”
She
kept her word,(36)leaving
the place in charge of the harwoman. The hotel bill came to fifteen guineas;
and my friend, after reckoning everything up,(37)
found that the cheeses had cost him eight-and-six pence a pound. He said
he dearly loved a bit of cheese, but it was beyond
his means, (38)so
he etermined(39)to
get rid of them. (40)He
threw them into the canal;but had to fish
them out(41)
again, as the bargemen complained. They said it made them feel quite faint.
And, after that, he took them one dark night and left them in the parish
mortuary. But the coroner discovered them, and made a fearful fuss. He
said it was a plot to deprive him of his living
by waking up the corpses. (42)
My friend got rid of them,at
last, by taking them down to a seaside town and burying them on the beach.
It gained the place quite a reputation.
(43) Visitors said they had never noticed
before how strong ?the air was, and weak - chested
and onsumptive people(44)
used to throng(45)
there for years afterwards. |
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English
Intensive Reading 
Introduction
