The threepenny bits safely in, it took the united efforts of the
homestead to get the pudding into a cloth and thence into a boiler, while
Cheon explained that it would have been larger if only we had had a
larger boiler to hold it. As it was, it had to be boiled out in the
open, away from the buildings, where Cheon had constructed an ingenious
trench to protect the fire from rain and wind.
Four dozen eggs in a pudding necessitates an all-night boiling, and
because of this we offered to share "watches" with Cheon, but were routed
in a body. "We were better in bed," he said. What would happen to his
dinner if any one's appetite failed for want of rest? There were too few
of us as it was, and, besides, he would have to stay up all night in any
case, for the mince pies were yet to be made, in addition to brownie and
another plum-pudding for the "boys," to say nothing of the hop-beer,
which if made too soon would turn with the thunder and if made too late
would not "jump up" in time. He did not add that he would have trusted
no mortal with the care of the fires that night.
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