The old lady did not care for tea, but as she considered that she could
not eat strawberries on an empty stomach, she took some, and was just
about to cast a critical eye on the bread, when a maid entered, bearing a
dish containing two little square pieces of fish, covered with a greenish
white sauce, and decorated with bits of water-cress.
As soon as Miss Panney's eyes fell upon this dish, she understood the
situation--Mrs. Tolbridge had actually fallen back upon Kipper. Kipper
was a caterer in Thorbury, and a good one. He was patronized by the
citizens on extraordinary festive occasions, but depended for his custom
principally upon certain families who came to the village for a few
months in the summer, and who did not care to trouble themselves with
much domestic machinery.
"Kipper, indeed," thought the old lady; "that is the last peg. A
caterer's tid-bit for a hard-working man. If she would have her fish
cooked properly in her own house, she could give him six times as much
for half the money. And positively," she continued, in inward speech, as
the maid presented the bread and butter, "Kipper's biscuit! I suppose she
is going to let him provide her with everything, just as he does for
those rich people on Maple Avenue.
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