They could get no fowls; old, purplish, stringy cocks were all they had for roasting and boiling.

Impossible to get women to scrub the floors--all were potato-hoeing.

Driving was out of the question, because one of the horses was restive, and bolted in the shafts.

There was no place where they could bathe; the whole of the river-bank was trampled by the cattle and open to the road; even walks were impossible, for the cattle strayed into the garden through a gap in the hedge, and there was one terrible bull, who bellowed, and therefore might be expected to gore somebody.

There were no proper cupboards for their clothes; what cupboards there were either would not close at all, or burst open whenever anyone passed by them.